


The Little Merman

by mysticmilks



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - The Little Mermaid Fusion, Brendol Hux's A+ Parenting, Brendol is horrible father and husband, Enemies to Lovers, Fairy Tale Elements, Little Mermaid Elements, M/M, MerMay, Minor Hux / oc, Minor Poe Dameron/Armitage Hux, Octo!Ren, Slow Burn, it's little mermaid with a twist, mer!hux, minor and not detailed mention of spousal abuse, minor mention of past physical abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:14:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 61,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24610624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysticmilks/pseuds/mysticmilks
Summary: Merman Armitage Hux was the prince of the underwater country of Arkanis. He was nineteen years old and he knew that his evil father King Brendol was going to make him marry soon. But Armie had other plans, he wanted to find out more about the human world.When Armitage found out who he was supposed to marry, he asked Sea Warlock Kylo Ren to help. That was a standard contract — Armie exchanged his voice for legs, and he needed to get a love’s kiss in three weeks, or he’d belong to Kylo Ren.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren
Comments: 161
Kudos: 381





	1. The Little Merman

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> all minor mentions of abuse are connected to Brendol Hux, and they are non-graphic  
> Hux/OC is mention only in the first chapter, and they aren't serious

**Book I: Once upon a time at the bottom of the sea**

_ Laboratory journal note 342: _

_ Yesterday I went again to the ship wreckage I’d found around a month ago (note 312). That was my third visit there. Only today I got a chance to properly inspect the samples that I’d found inside it and transcribe the results. _

_ The room that I visited inside the wreckage must have belonged to someone important. It was bigger than the others and decorated with carvings. There I found three new artifacts that I haven’t seen before: a locket like thing with a reflecting surface (img 24), a firm sharp stick, that looks like a tiny sword made from metal (img 25), and a metal hollow cylinder the size of my palm, with a solid bottom, and metal handle (img 26). _

_ The locket looks like jewelry that a poor merperson, who can't afford beads, might wear. The only puzzle is a reflective surface inside it. It’s similar to our wall mirrors but much smaller. Do humans need small mirrors? Does it have religious meaning? Maybe in their more primitive culture, they think reflection is a deity? Or might it have a more sophisticated purpose? _

_ The tiny sword confirms the books I read and the human skulls I found — if humans indeed don’t have fangs and claws they might use small swords to do everyday activities, or use it for hunting. _

_ The third new object, the cylinder is a complete mystery for me. It doesn’t seem to do anything. It’s hollow inside, and they made it from a precious material like metal but softer. _

_ Our poor understanding of humans upsets me deeply. How much more don’t we know about them? It could be a peculiar storage item, but it doesn't look practical. Or is it an offensive weapon? Magical artifact? Or a decoration? _

_ Other than that I found a chest full of the same small soft metal discs, which I saw many times before (note 15, 36, 89, 105, 238). I am still under the assumption that humans use it as currency, instead of pearls, although I don’t have any proof. _

Armitage put away his working journal and his writing stick. The scrapes needed to stick to the spongy surface before it’d be safe to hide it inside the walls. He knew that, but the time was running out. He would have hurry up and started preparing if he wanted to arrive at the ceremony looking his best. As his father had ordered.

Yet, after a short inner argument, he pulled the journal back to himself and started drawing the locket that he’d found. His hair would be fine without additional styling and jewelry. His research was more important. Who knew, maybe that was the last opportunity for the young prince to study in peace.

Armitage sat on the rock at his working desk in a small cave hidden in the belly of the Arkanis castle. The cave was lit with the dim blue light of a magical lamp that Armitage had brought from his royal bedchamber upstairs.

All the fascinating artifacts that he’d acquired over the years of the search were placed in the multiple natural notches in the cave walls. Strange, angular things made from rare materials like wood, metal, or even fabric, so different from the soft, and smooth world that had been surrounding Armitage all his life under the water. He had found them during the exploration of sunken ships, caves, and shallows near human settlements. All the places that merpeople were forbidden to go.

And he wasn’t a common merman. Armitage Hux, or just Armie as most merpeople around the castle called him, was the youngest and the last surviving child of Brendol the Fierce, the ruler of the Arkanis.

Truth be told he shouldn’t have been an heir to the throne. He was no prince when he was born. Back then his father had had two wives, Mirra and Flara, and two other children, the boy and the girl — a royal prince and a royal princess. The girl, only a couple of years older than Armie, had died while Armie had been sucking his mom’s tit. He didn’t even know her name. What he did know, that the same night Flara, her mother, had run away, righteously frightened of Brendol’s anger. Then Armitage’s mother, a mere concubine, or a slave as some said, was moved to Flara’s rooms with her little weak baby Armie.

That was what he'd heard from the servants and his brother Bran. Armitage didn’t remember any of that. He didn’t even remember his mom’s name. She’d disappeared too when he’d been no bigger than a zander fish. Armitage had asked his father Brendol about her once when he had been six or seven. The scar on his shoulder was a nice reminder not to ask stupid questions.

Brendol’s other wife Mirra never had any love for little Armie, but she hadn’t hurt him. Not once. When Armitage thought about her now, he thought that Mirra might have even liked him, or at least cared for him as one prisoner might care about another.

Her son Bran, Armitage’s older brother, had been the heir to the throne. As much as Armitage remembered Bran had always been nice to him. He’d been the closest thing to the normal family that Armitage had ever had. Bran had taught him to fight with the sword, he read books about history to little Armie, and they even played hide and seek when their royal father left the castle.

Armitage had cried for weeks when Bran hadn’t come back from the battle of the North Vulcano. In that battle Brendol the Fierce had lost his heir, his left eye, and the whole Northern province to the Selki Tribes.

Shortly after that Mirra had been sent to the Crying Siblings convent. Or so they said. Armitage chose to believe it was true. He hadn’t wished her ill, Mirra hadn’t harmed him even though she could. Some late-night nights he found himself thinking about her, her image, and the face of his own mother mixed together.  _ Maybe one day _ , he thought,  _ when I sit on the throne, I could get her out of that convent, if she is alive. _

The year when Bran had died and Mirra had been sent away, twelve years old Armitage Hux had become the prince of Arkanis and the only heir of King Brendol.

In the following seven years his father had had one more husband. Derek. Even back then Armie had thought that his husband Derek had been young. Derek had been smaller than broad-shouldered Bran, and being fair-haired and blue-eyed he had looked comical near bearded and battled scared Brendon. He must have been around Armie’s current age - nineteen or maybe twenty, although Armitage had never found that out for sure. Poor Derek was constantly pregnant, constantly beaten if bruises had been any indication, and constantly had miscarriages. His head had decorated the pike, after the last failed attempt to give Brendol a more worthy successor than weak and pretty Armie.

After Derek, his father either had believed the court healer affirmations or found the solace in hallucinogenic spores to which he developed a passion for. But ‘til now he hadn’t remarried, and Armie hadn’t seen any bloated-belly merpeople around his father. So now Armitage was the exclusive contender for the throne.

Armitage pressed his writing stick into the soft sheet of seaweed, finishing the drawing. He was satisfied with the depiction and hid the locket into the pocket of his dark-green ceremonial skirting. It laid there hidden with other small necessary things like his comb. The skirting was made out of the intricate weaving of small shells. It didn’t serve any practical purpose and most of the common merpeople didn’t wear such things. Armie didn’t like it either, it impeded his movement and it was almost impossible not to get tangled in it, but, he must admit, it suited his long golden tail.

Armitage knew perfectly well that he was attractive. Merpeople started to give him not discreet looks a few years ago. He even overheard salacious whispers when he was floating near the castle guards and his father’s knights. Those comments and looks enraged Armitage — he was their prince, they should have respected him. Yet that attention gave him a strange warm ache in the bottom of his belly. They were just servants, they would never be allowed to even touch him. That didn’t stop him thinking about all the possible situations, about a brazen knight barging in his chamber in the middle of the night, or a rogue guard kissing him in the dark and empty hall. Armitage had been thinking about that — sliding his hands down his belly in his bed the solitude of his chamber.

He wasn’t naive, he was aware where merbabies came from — with his father's habits it was hard to pretend he believed tales of jelly-fishes and finding merbabies in corals. He knew that one day he would marry someone important and make merchildren of his own. And if he was lucky, even make love just for the fun of the process. Yes, he’d heard that with the right partner it was a pleasant experience no matter your role in it.

The knock on the stone wall spooked him. Hastily he shut his journal and put it in one of the holes in the wall near other books with history and myth about humans. Armitage had read them all. All six of them. Five that he’d found in the big library and sneaked back to his lair, and the one he’d got three years ago during the visiting of the ancient ruins of Coruscant with Snoke’s apprentice. There wasn’t much in those books but what was there had ignited Armie’s imagination like the stories about mythical heroes that his brother Bran had read for him in his childhood.

“I know you are in there, Armitage,” the stern voice said from the other side of the cave wall, “Open it immediately. Don’t make me blow a hole myself.”

“One moment,” Armitage shouted back, swimming up and covering all the holes and impromptu shelves in the wall with a huge drawing of the known ocean with all Ten Great Kingdoms. Small, but proud Arkanis was among them, right on the top, between Vulcano Land and the entrance to the Unknown Ocean.

Now his room looked clean and unsuspicious — just an abandoned cave hidden under the castle with an empty table, stone stool, and mirror. Nothing to see there. Although Armitage thought that she must have known that he was doing something forbidden here. She hadn’t told his father. Well, thanks for that. Maybe she thought he was just doing some silly things that any other young prince does like writing love poems or plotting to kill their royal parent.

Like most doors in the castle that one was magic. Armie wasn’t sure about that but he’s heard that it was very expensive and old magic, and peasants either didn’t have doors at all or used hanging seaweed instead of a door.

Armitage swam to the wall and pushed the enchanted symbol, opening a new hole in it. The unhappy gaze of Rae Sloane, his father’s second in command, the hand of the King, the Lady of the West, and the High Commander of the Royal Arkanisian Army, met him.

“You are not ready,” she said instead of a greeting, “Do you think, I’m your wet nanny, Armitage?”

Among all the merpeople she was the only one who always called him his full name — Armitage, and he liked it greatly.

“No, Admiral.”

“Then you must think I’m your personal handmaiden who lives to assist you?”

“No, I—”

“Your father is the King, and if he deems that sending me to find his delayed, forgetful son is the right relocation of resources — well, I have no right to argue with the King. Yet, you are no King, your Royal Highness, and I won’t tolerate your disobedience or you disrespect, to me and to the Crown.” 

“I’m sorry High Commander. I lost track of time. I didn’t mean—”

“Armitage, if I thought that you did what you did deliberately I’d deal with you in a very drastic way,” she said, scowling, narrowing her yellow, almost orange eyes at him “Now get prepared and move your fins.”

The prince looked around searching for his bag. He’d prepared everything he needed for the ceremony before swimming downstairs hours ago. Yet, now the stupid bag with his brushes, corals, and his crown was nowhere to be seen.

“Boy, are you lost?”

With that, she threw his bag, that she was hiding behind her back, “Found it in your bedroom, where I was supposed to find a certain young prince, ready and flawless.”

“Thank you,” he said, suppressing the urge to hug her. She rarely allowed such gestures of affection, ”You are my savior indeed.”

During all of Armie’s life, High Commander Sloane was the only merperson he respected completely without a doubt. She hadn’t had Brendol’s wrath or cunning backstabbing skills of his other lords and ladies. No, this dark-skinned merwoman with a beautiful black tail had something much more valuable — a mind sharp like fangs complemented with cold sobriety and chest full of determination. Armie remembered her the weeks after their historical defeat when his father had been trashing the throne hall, grieving his son’s death, when the high ranking officers had been moving their families away from the city, afraid of the siege, and the servants were spreading the rumors about their demise, and little Armie had been crying in his room, scared and lonely, sure that he’d die on the claws of their enemies. Lady Sloane had been the one who remained composed and prepared. Very probably, her actions during those days were the reason why they still had a country nowadays.

In his memory, Armitage saw her floating in their courtyard in front of the scared leftovers of their troops, like he’d seen her almost a decade ago from the small window of his old bedchamber. She’d worn the same white uniform made of cuirass and seaweed with all her medals, as she wore it now, only she’d had fewer medals, her hair was much shorter, braided, and she had had neither grey scales nor grey hair. She had been screaming a speech, not about honor and loyalty but had reminded the warriors that they’d been protecting their own families and their own homes. The Savage Selkies hadn’t captured the castle. Young Armie hadn’t died. The northerners had retreated. Brendol had celebrated the victory. Anyone with substance in their head—and Armitage definitely had enough grey matter—knew that Rae Sloane was the real hero of that day.

Armitage put the dozen colored pearl chains on, not losing any more time. They were green and orange, matching with his skirting, covering his chest almost completely, They jewelry weighed much more than he liked. His neck would hurt before the half of the ceremony was over, that was the reason why he’d decided not to wear the stupid thing earlier today. He also wore multiple bracelets along his arms and rings on his hands.

“Ready,” he proclaims, after placing the small coral crown on his head. Now he was decorated more than a stall of the market square during the winter holidays.

“And your hair?” she asked, not taking her gaze away from the coverup map.

“I thought I’d go like this. I don’t want to overdo it. Aren’t I pretty already?”

He playfully shook his head. His bright red, scapula-long hair created a sun-like halo around him.

“Don’t fish for a compliment, Armitage. Everyone, including you, knows you are beautiful, but right now you look like a merperson who exchanges their love for coins. And not so many coins I’ll tell you.”

She didn’t even finish her phrase, when Armie intertwined the most modest strings of embroidered seaweed in his hair, making it stay on his shoulders. He knew better than to argue with her, even playfully.

Rae glanced briefly at him, and nodded, swimming past him to the door. She stopped there and pointedly looked with her eyes to the map.

“Your father finds out about your little hobby, he’ll scale you alive,” she said, as one might have said about the plans for today, “I won’t be able, and won’t even try to stop him.”

Lying to her was futile. Pretending he didn’t understand her was stupid. He thought about trying to explain that all he was doing, all his research was for their future prosperity, but they didn’t have time for that. She didn’t tell on him to Brendol, that already meant that she didn’t disprove it. At least in general. At least he hoped so.

“I know,” he said instead and they left his laboratory.

They swam shoulder to shoulder along the narrow corridor. It was dark, lit only by a thin layer of luminous plankton base substance, with a low ceiling and rough walls.

Those caves were natural. The legend said they were there long before the castle was built and the House of Hux set, long before the first mers appeared in these lands. The caves were as old and as deep as the ocean itself. Armitage didn’t much believe it. Truth be told he didn’t care much — the past of the rocks and lands wasn’t for him. He’d learned what the prince must learn, yet it hadn’t caught his interest. His sight was set to the future. He wanted to explore new things, new seas, and new lands.

They ascended to the brightly illuminated hall guarded by the row of mers, all in their formal armor. The honored guests were arriving today, and Brendol was showing off his domain. Not that there was much to show.

Decades ago, when Armitage’s great grandmother Queen Alicandra had sat on the Arkasinian throne, all Ten Great Kingdoms had known that castle as the most beautiful of all. When she’d reigned, Arkanis was prosperous and peaceful. Everything changed when she died, and her oldest son Brendol the Drunk inherited the throne. There was no money for renovation during Armitage’s granduncle’s reign. After Brendol the Drunk ruled his brother and Armitage’s grandfather — Triton the White Beard. Triton had lived a long life and had sold most of the castle’s decorations, and what wasn’t sold was destroyed during the civil war with his sisters. One war after the other, with the help of a short plague, most of Triton’s children had died. Except for Brendol, Armitage’s father.

Brendol had got the castle, not in its prime condition, and he seemingly had done his best to cripple it and the capital city even more. As long as Armitage remembered, their family’s stronghold was the dilapidated ghost of its former glory: the west wing was closed, and the upper levels of the south tower were dangerous to visit, mosaics crumbled, and coral gardens, that Arkanis had been famous for, had died almost completely. 

Meanwhile, their king spent fortunes on valueless and endless wars. With little to no success. Brendol the Fierce was a bad king, bad husband, and bad father, but more than anything he was a bad military leader and strategic mind — hot-headed, a strong warrior in his youth, he rushed into the battle without a plan and had more enemies than were absolutely necessary. It was expected that few of the other rulers of Great Kingdoms and tribes would hate you, but Brendol managed to piss off all but three. And even those three didn’t have a love for him and only supported him because of the Arkasinian commerce. His father had Rae Sloane, true. Armitage didn’t quite understand why she was loyal to Brendol. With any other king she would conquer the world, with him she was constantly dealing with his mess. 

And little prince Armie hated his father. With all his heart, soul, and mind. With every fiber in his body. And no doubt the feeling was mutual.

Armitage lacked the potential to get rid of his father and save the country from all the hostile neighbors at the same time. Brendol lacked other children to sit on the throne after himself, and even Brendol agreed that it was better for his weak and soft offspring to rule the country after him then it’d do someone else's son or daughter. They stuck with each other: Brendol, making his son’s life miserable, and Armie, searching for the magical source of power to protect Arkanis, after his father’s unfortunate and unexpected death.

Through the side door behind the dais, Armitage and High Commander Sloane entered the crowded throne room. It was the biggest and most well-cared space in the whole castle.

The wall and ceiling were glowing with soft blue and pink light. The place was oval with five asymmetric and intricate chandeliers hanging from the domed ceiling. There were small luminescent fish captured in each chandelier dozens of cages. Two side walls had full-length windows in them. The windows were guarded by a pair of giant naked mermen and merwomen. The stone behind his father’s high seat was adorned with mosaics depicting scenes from the family history, very old and very highly-colored family history. That was the last fully intact mosaic. The masters from the Eastern province had redecorated it the same year when the Western province was suffering from famine and coffers had claimed not to have enough money.

Of all the rooms in the castle, it was Armitage’s least favorite. It was saturated with lies and vanity. Merpeople from all over Arkanis and out of its borders came there to act like they respect his father. Peasants and merchants sang shallow praises to him. Former enemies swore their loyalties. And the House of Hux pretended to be a real family under that dome. Armitage knew he wouldn't be able to destroy it, but he’d promised himself that when he became the king he’d spent as little time as possible there. It shouldn’t be a problem, he didn’t like fancy banquets and celebrations and thought that they were a waste of time. 

Today, as many times before, Armitage, his father, their court and their guests put on their best attire, painted their fake smiles and gathered to eat delicacies, sniff light hallucinogenic spores, lie and pretend not to hate each other's guts. The current celebration of the Perfection of Summer was just another ruse. Brendol was preparing for the next war, to take back what was ours, as he loved to say. And for that war he searched for allies and supporters, and what can be more innocent reason to mean with fellow rulers and influential subjects than to celebrate the end of summer together.

“Armie, my dear son,” said King Brendol gesturing to them with his famous trident, after Armitage and Rae Sloane took their places on his left and right hand respectively, “I started to worry when my usually well-behaved son seemed to forget about his responsibilities as the prince. But now, after seeing you shining with beauty and grace I understand what delayed you, my dear.”

It was obvious that to whomever his father intended to sell Armitage was already there and was listening.

“I’m deeply sorry, my King,” Armitage said, bowing his head humbly. The ceremony hadn't started yet, guests were mingling and talking, music wasn’t playing. He had nothing to be apologizing for. Deciding to play along was the most reasonable option. If Brendol wanted him to be a shallow, pretty decoration of a princeling, that was his role until Armitage figured what exactly was going on.

Armitage gave his polite greetings and excuses to all the Arkasinian noblemers and all high-born guests and moved to a small group of his peers. The sons and daughters of the most important mers were staying together near the high table, discussing safe topics like gossip, the menu for the feast, and what entertainments had been prepared during it. They kept it simple, giggling in the right places, and making judgmental grimaces when it was appropriate. No one wanted to show themselves as the dumb one by saying something stupid in front of their prince, no one wanted to show themselves as too smart in front of their rivals.

“I really hope that for dessert we’ll get mashed sardines with Umibudo,” chirped Aniko, a petite and curvy merboy, with greenish long hair, which almost touched the scales of his azure tail. “Phasma, sweetheart, what do you think?”

That was not the most subtle probe—everyone knew that the House of Orcamer, to which Phasma belonged, had interests in Western farms, and if they allied with the House of Unamo they’d become the sole provider of Umibudo—the most costly algae and indisputably Armitage’s most beloved dessert. But the current favorite of the king wasn’t known to be the smartest fish in a pond, so Armitage wasn’t shocked by his straightforwardness. Aniko was one year younger than Armie, and Armie felt the wave of nausea every time he saw Brendol’s hand running down his plump body.

“Oh, darling, you know me I’m cold for desserts,” Phasma Orcamer flashed him a sharp toothed smile, “I’m saving my waistline, following the latest fashion. They say it’s important for marriage perspectives.”

Everyone around made a semi-honest attempt to laugh. Phasma was easily the most stunning mermaiden that Armitage had ever seen — with an endless tail colored in rare silver, a strong torso, and face that belonged to ancient statues. Even if, in regard to her appearance, she was a less than average grey mergirl, there’d be a line of suitors. The House of Orcamer was the richest noble House of this side on the Fire Line. Their wealth was larger than the royal treasury and Armitage’s dear friend Phasma was their only heiress.

They chatted idly until the drums indicated the start of the feast. The prince swam to his father's side and listened to his speech. Brendol loved to give speeches, attention, and applause and tried to address the nation as often as was utterly possible.

During his time as crown prince, Armitage had heard a great deal of them. Between the typical ‘The great year. The best year of all’ and ‘I will bring the former glory back to Arkanis’.

In his current speech, Armitage was able to recognize the thinly veiled promise of war, and union with one of their neighbors. Brendol didn’t say it openly before, but he emphasizes the role of ‘our children’ and ‘family ties’. He wanted to marry off Armitage, which was as clear as Brendol’s love for young, dumb, and chubby merboys. The only question was who was supposed to be Armitage’s future spouse.

Examining the crowd, Armitage was guessing whom of them he was supposed to wed. He moved his gaze from one face to another. He knew them all: some were frequent guests, while others only recently had been their enemies. Like Prince Rhones, the oldest son of King Lucius the old and very ill ruler of Tyrrhenia, the big and aggressive Kingdom to the West of Arkanis. Arkanis had tension with them for years, with a few open conflicts at the border. As recently as this spring Brendol was promising to put that impudent prince Rhones’s head on the spike. And now he was sitting two seats away from Lady Sloane.

Between them seated Enric Pryde the King of Exagon, but Armitage didn’t consider him as a potential husband. King Pryde’s wife had died recently, but he had too many heirs already and was too old to be interested in making new ones. Even Brendol wasn’t that stupid to give Armie to such useless union.

To Armie’s right seated Queen Eia with her prince consort Tobias. Armitage had attended their wedding at the beginning of spring. He had hoped to marry Eia himself — she was young, her lands were rich, and she patronized the sciences. They could have been a good match if she hadn’t married her childhood friend and petty lord Tobias. Today the Queen and her husband both looked happy and very much pregnant, dressed in matching loose weaved dresses.

Armitage made a small sigh of relief when he was sure that Sea Warlock Snoke wasn’t in the throne room. For the last five years, Armie had feared that Brendol would give him to that ancient merman. Every time Snoke had come to the castle and the prince had seated near his father’s side, that wrinkled and eerie warlock made Armie shiver and want to cover. Armitage got used to older merpeople looking at him lustfully, but Snoke...Snoke had looked at him carnivorously as if he’d wanted to soak his croaked fangs in Armitage’s flesh and pull it from his bones.

The masked octo-creature that always had accompanied Snoke hadn’t added to his charm. Octo People by themselves hadn’t bothered Armitage. Yes, they were rare and rumors had it they were cursed, but Armitage had seen them in the stalls in the fairs and read about them. There was nothing special other than that they mainly lived far away in much colder and deeper waters. That wasn’t what unnerved Armitage about octoman Kylo Ren, Snoke’s guard, and servant. During the first visits, the octoman had worn a full-face mask all the time, but somehow Armitage had known that Ren’s eyes hadn’t left him. That concern hadn’t improved when Armie had seen him without the mask for the first time. Kylo Ren’s face had been surprisingly young and open, and he had been studying Armie, with much intensity.

No one at the castle had seen or heard about Snoke for more than a year now. Brendol asked Kylo Ren the indirect question when he’d summoned octoman to the court. Ren had dodged it, and Brendol dropped the topic. All kinds of rumors had been circulated.

Whatever merpeople said Armitage was happy not to see Snoke there today. Kylo Ren also wasn’t there, although Armie wasn’t sure if he was invited. In Snoke’s absence, everyone started to call Kylo Ren the Sea Warlock, and it was customary to invite the warlocks to the official feasts.

After Brendol’s speech, the celebration was boring. The food was good, but Armie was way too much concerned about his future to properly enjoy it.

During the singing competition between the changing of meals, Armitage intercepted Rae’s gaze, begging her to say something. She seemingly didn’t see it, acting like there was nothing more important than a middle-aged merwoman wailing ‘Fury and Glory’, a popular ballad about Armitage’s great grandmother Alicandra and her triumph over her evil husband. Armitage almost turned away when Lady Sloane glared to her left and pointed to the merman two seats away.

There sat blond, handsome, and proud Prince Rhones.

That is fine, Armitage thought, I could have done worse, I could have done much, much worse. Rhones was one good cough away from the throne of Tyrrhenia. He was older than Armie for almost ten years, but that wasn’t unmanageable. Granted they said that Rhones already had an illegitimate child somewhere in the villages. Who hadn’t had? King Brendol had him, others had more, even Rae joked that she looked suspiciously at all black-tailed merchildren in the Western province. 

Rhones was conventionally attractive, with broad shoulders, thin waist, pale skin, and silver long hair, currently braided with red corals. He looked just like a proper mer prince must look as if he was born to be depicted on the mosaics in heroic poses.

The evening boringly changed into night. The light spores changed into heavy stuff that goes through your nose right to your head, making you smile and giggle. The noble guests told vulgar jokes to everyone to hear. Brendol laughed loudly each time. The countess of Eastern province, an elderly lady named Voda, slapped some servant's asses and made weird faces, while her husband frowned but pretended to be interested only in food.

The music became louder. The guests started dancing. Armie danced with everyone else, changing partners and giggling. He sniffed only a couple of portions, but he felt weightless. That was a fine night, not the best one possible, but his life was going to change for the better very soon. Marriage was a scary prospect, but after the wedding, he'd be far from Brendol’s reach and he'd be able to live his life without constant taunts and threats.

Armitage was on his way to the balcony, craving to breathe freshwater when Rhones emerged from the shadow.

“Your highness,” he said, blocking Armie’s way, “You look exceptionally lovely today.”

“Thank you, sir,” Armie answered, looking down, “You look well too.”

“Only well? A very bland start for our future relationship.”

Armitage didn’t know what to say. Rhones’s voice sounded sprung. They were alone in that narrow hall. The sound of the celebration was muffled there. Armie was too aware of how close Rhones was to him.

“Did you swallow your tongue, little prince? Not the fortunate act for a merboy of marriageable age.”

“No, sir,” Armitage said, fetching for the right words. He wasn’t particularly good at compliments. He didn’t have anyone to practice them at, “You, sir, look striking tonight. All the eyes in the room were on you.”

“Were they? I’m pretty sure you must have noticed one or two old dodderers devouring you with their eyes. And I can’t blame them, my sweet little prince.”

Rhones moved his hand to him and Armitage floated back without thinking, bumping on the wall. Rhones ignored that, and took one of the beads on Armie’s chest between his fingers, his claw brushing Armie’s nipple, making him shiver.

“Are you afraid of me, little prince? Am I scary?” he asked. The claw from his other hand moving Armie’s chin up so their eyes met. The scent of spores attacked Armie’s nose.

Armitage wasn’t scared, not really. Whatever was going on, he was in his home, the guards were strokes away. Frankly, Armitage was curious to find out what Rhones was doing, and maybe, just maybe a little bit embarrassed.

“Yes,” Armie mumbled instead, averting prince Rhones’s gaze. This merman wanted a shy little prince — Armitage was smart enough to give him that. “We shouldn’t be here all alone.”

“Don’t be scared. Very soon you are going to be mine,” his hand slid from Armie’s chest to his belly, making small circles there, “And right after that, I’m going to put so many babies in you. Tell me Armie, do you know where babies come from?”

“Yes,” Armitage wasn’t going to pretend to be an idiot, even for his future husband.

“That’s good, little prince. Very good. I’m tasked to give an army to your father, I might test what I get for it,” he pressed Armitage to the wall with his body. On his hip, though the skirtings Armie felt his engorged member.

“My prince,” Armitage whispered, pressing his hands into Rhones’s chest, pushing him away, “Patience gives spores time to age. Haste destroys the most delicious meal. If you want to enjoy my company you should wait, the results won’t disappoint you.”

Armie’s heart was pounding. He felt his own arousal curling inside him, making it harder to think. Or maybe it was spores. Or fear of a bigger and stronger merman. It was hard to tell.

“They better not, little prince. You have a smart mouth. Smart pretty mouth. Maybe the prince will be so generous to give me advance with it?” He slurred in Armie’s ear, pawing his ass.

One kiss won’t hurt, reasoned Armitage with himself. He opened his mouth, closing his eyes. His lips were reaching out to meet with Rhones’s.

Nothing happened. Armitage heard his potential husband laughing and opened his eyes.

“Stupid, pure or teasing,” Rhones huffed, gazing at him, “What are you, darling?”

Armitage was embarrassed. Now it was easy to identify what he was feeling — it was anger.

“Rude, impertinent, or inebriated. What are you, prince Rhones?”

They stared at each other, breathing heavily.

“I’ll make you learn your manners,” Rhones hissed and smashed their lips together.

Armitage struggled against it for a show but submitted shortly. It was his first real kiss. Before that, he practiced with his childhood friends years ago. He wasn’t sure what to do, just licking his way. It wasn't like Rhones cared. He pushed his tongue inside Armie, and his hand grabbed the back of Armie’s neck, tangling in his hair. After a few moments, his other hand slides down to Armie’s ass going under his skirting.

Remembering himself, Armitage pushed him away, swimming up and to the side.

“My lord, the night is late, and we both sniffed too many spores,” he mumbled, when he found his voice, ”You must excuse me, I need to leave.”

Before Armie was able to get away Rhones’s claws locked on his wrist.

“I want you to know something — I’m going to fuck your teasing ass right after our marriage vows. I won’t wait even to drug you to the nearest dark corner,” he said, smirking, “my little prince.”

The claws unlocked, and Armie swam away, not looking back, and not understanding what exactly all of it was. It was nice to be wanted. It was for sure, but Rhones didn’t want to even pretend to be a romantic type.

Well, it wasn’t the best scenario. Wasn’t the worst one either. Their kiss wasn’t tender but it did something to Armie’s body, making him crave to put his fingers inside himself and ride on his bedding.

The marriage agreement gave Armitage a lot to think about. It could work if he played it right. With old King Lucis dead and with a future heir in him, Armitage could be a ruler of two kingdoms, after taking care of his own father. Maybe in years, he’d even develop warm feelings for Rhones. Or get rid of him too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It supposed to be MerMay fic, but it got a bit bigger than I expected.  
> I plan to post chapters once per week, each Monday. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
> 
> If you like it don't hesitate to like and leave a comment. I love your comments.
> 
> * * *
> 
> You can find me [tumblr](https://mysticmilks.tumblr.com), [twitter](https://twitter.com/mystic_milks) or [curiousCat](https://curiouscat.me/mystic_milks)
> 
> Many thanks to [@spiteandmalice ](https://twitter.com/spiteandmalice) for beta reading!
> 
> * * *
> 
> Shameless self-promo:  
>  _modern AUs:_  
>  Famous Russian AU, that my friends and I translated [To the Moon and Back](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22380280/)  
> Demon!Hux / hunter!Kylo [Dating a monster](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26703904)  
> Hux/Kylo/Techie, pwp with feelings and bottom!Kylo [You can have it all, but not all at once](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22721863/)  
> Russian train AU [The train on fire](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23477458/)  
> roommates AU, there was only one bed [Up All Night](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18018218/)  
> co-workers on a long business trip, friends to lovers [my face above the water, my feet can't touch the ground](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19928956/)
> 
>  _Canon:_  
>  post-tlj, media AU [you are burned up before you know it](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17705078)
> 
>  _Fantasy AUs:_  
>  Hux is a merman, Kylo is a Sea Warlock [The Little Merman](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24610624/)  
> Arranged marriage, Hux needs to marry a mysterious man and Kylo needs to deliver him there [drop the curtain, blow out the candles](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17462159)
> 
>  _Collection of ficlets_  
>  Ficlets for Kyluxpositivity [In all the worlds, in all the times](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25771663)


	2. Prince Charming

Armitage moved his gaze down at the short stout merman in front of him and nodded. The jeweler smiled politely, but only with his lips in the response, turned for affirmation to Lady Rae.

“We don’t care about the prices. If the prince likes it, the crown will pay for it,” she said.

“Thank you, ma'am, it’s a great honor. I'll prepare all the papers for your order,” he muttered, closed a box with samples of corals, and disappeared in the back of his shop, screaming orders to his assistants.

“If it’s such an honor, he might have done it for free. Imagine how many more customers he’s going to have after making a wedding crown for the prince,” Armitage muttered to Rae and earned a barely visible smirk in return.

Armitage felt exhausted. It was that type of day when you achieve nothing, do nothing productive yet your body feels like you worked in the field, while your mind nags you for loafing. They spent the better half of the day examining all the variants of the tiaras and chest jewelry for Armie’s future nuptials. Not that he cared about it, but the jeweler had insisted on showing and fitting everything, describing all the virtues of each style and material, and Rae had added that it was important. Armie presumed it was a trick to oversell them a tiara, but he kept his suspicions unspoken.

The whole last week had been like that. Armitage needed to play his role as a busy groom. Neither the wedding date, nor the name of his future spouse was not officially announced yet preparation was going well underway, and rumors were spreading around the city like waves in the storm, as powerful and as meaningless.

“We can go, Your Highness,” Rae said, finishing scribing acknowledgment for their order. It must have been a hefty sum of pearls if they didn’t pay on the spot.

A pang of guilt hit him. It wasn't wise to spend so much on such pointless things. Almost half of their people were struggling to get weed buns on the table, while he was going to wear a fortune on his head.

Rae swam past him, beckoning him to follow her outside. He felt sorry for her too. It was bad that they wasted his time on that, but Brendol insisted that Rae Sloane herself oversaw all the arrangements and accompanied his son all the time, when he went to the city market and ateliers situated in the city center, along the wealthiest street of Arkanis.

Giving so much thought into what Armitage was doing was suspicious, even for Brendol. For a moment the prince had allowed himself to imagine that his father had cared about his wedding and wanted to be the perfect father of the groom, but Armitage had chased that thought away. He was not a naive and stupid merboy anymore to pretend that his daddy secretly loved him. Maybe Brendol wanted the wedding to be perfect so he can brag about it in front of their neighbors, and Rae Sloane was the only merperson to organize anything in that decayed kingdom.

On the streets, two armed guards were waiting for them with their palanquin. Rae and Armitage were always accompanied by the guards these days when they left the castle. And by the subtle change on Rae’s face, Armitage understood that she’d been also unpleasantly surprised by it.

“Do the purchases make you happy, Armitage?” she asked when they got inside the palanquin.

“I can marry in a dolphin barn for all it matters. And I didn’t get the impression that my future potential spouse cared about it either. I don’t know why it has to be such a big deal,” he answered, tired of pretending, “Thanks for helping anyway. Without you, it’d be even more tedious.”

Politeness. He should always be polite, the prince reminded himself and gave Rae a small smile. At least he has to be nice with her, she deserved it.

“I see. There will be a lot of merpeople who do care, Armitage. They will observe, notice everything, and make conclusions about our country based on it. If our prince marries in a barn, wearing nothing but frivolous beads, we’ll look vulnerable.”

“I know that. I meant—” he looked at the window, and decided that he had enough for today, “Am I needed in the castle now?”

“No, not that I’m aware. Why?”

“I want to visit Phasma,” he lied, after checking that his shoulder bag was with him. “She should be in their city manor. I haven't seen her in a while. And after the wedding, I won’t be able to spend time with her. So I thought...”

“Do you want us to bring you there right now?”

“No,” he smiled, trying to sound unsuspicious, “I can swim there myself, use my fins a little. I was sitting or floating motionlessly for way too long. It’s not far and not late anyway.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Phasma lived alone in their city property most of the time since she had turned fifteen. Her father Ashlie was a bored melancholic merman, with constant health problems. He preferred to spend his idle days in the South Kingdom of Parnassos, chilling in their hot waters and relishing in the attention of their hot merpeople. Phasma's mother Vanne, the matriarch of the House of Orcamer, preferred to spend her less than idle days, doing business across all the Ten Kingdoms, Middle Seas, and even in the Unknown Regions if rumors were true. Phasma’s home was an ideal place to hide from the supervision.

Armitage and Rae looked at each other silently. It was hard not to look away when her eyes were scanning him, and then she sighed, “Swim. I assume you’d stay there for dinner, but don’t stay longer. We don’t want anyone in the castle to be nervous about your whereabouts.

“Thank you, Lady Rae. I will try to be home before the sunset.” And he left before she could change her opinion, not even waiting for the palanquin to fully stop.

Armitage pulled his cowl on and swam through vibrant streets that were teeming with merchants, playing kids, and idle merpeople. He headed in the direction of luxurious Orcamer’s family mansion that was situated on the far end of the city among their private hot springs. Visiting her was tempting, and Armitage should have done it in the next few days, and he definitely would, but for today he had other plans. On the crossroad, he turned in the opposite direction of her, and when he was sure that no one paid him any attention, he headed from the city.

Half an hour passed after Armitage had left the city walls when he got to the Dread Rocks. He needed time for himself, needed to feel free, and that was the right place. His place. The Dread Rocks were desolate, just old blocks of stone, with few bushes of brown seaweed and even fewer fish. There was nothing interesting there to attract peasants, and treacherous currents circulating between gaps dismay the noblemers who fans of leisure swims in the wild. If you weren’t careful the stream would overtake you and hit you on the fang-edged rocks or, even worse, it’d carry you between them, who knows for how long in the depths of the reefs. 

But Armitage liked that place. He came here on the days like that when even in his secret laboratory he felt trapped. When he needed a breath of fresh water far away from the rotting castle and his rotting family, he came there, and just chilled there, making quick sketches or writing in his diary in the shadow of the Dread Rocks. When he felt especially down, like today, he opted for air.

The human ships avoided the Dread Rocks too if they could. Armitage liked to emerge there and enjoyed the peculiar surface world without a need to hide from humans like he had to near the shore.

He cautiously floated up, grabbing rock from time to time to stabilize himself, when the tide pulled him. Near the surface, he sat on a flat rock and looked around. The city of Arkanis laid to his left. The first street lights started to appear along the few streets near the castle. The castle itself was covered in the thick layer of luminescent mixed with centuries-old magic — from this distance, it was a beautiful triangle interlaced with yellow and rich orange lines. To Armitage’s right spread out the fields of Algae, disappearing on the horizon.

It was almost sunset. Too bad he won't see much, and he only had less than half an hour until he had to head home.

Armitage dug his hand into his shoulder bag and located his air-glasses. They laid there among a knife, the book he was reading, his journal, the human locket he'd forgotten to take away, and other small stuff he always had with him when he went on an expedition. For the last few days, he just took everything with him each time, hoping he would get a chance to swim to the ship wreckage.

He’d made those glasses himself, modified the design from the old book he’d find in the ruins of Coruscant. It wasn’t sophisticated — just two pockets from the transparent weed filled with water and stuck to his head with bands. He was going to perfect them when he’d free time, but now they were leaking all over his face and he had to dive back into the sea every few minutes to refill them. He also planned to create a water tube or even a breathing device with water storage. 

Breathing air wasn’t a pleasant experience. Armitage had been amazed to find out that he could do it for some time if he relaxed and inhaled slowly, but every inhale scrunched his nose and his gills hurt in his chest. The old scary tales told that if a merperson stuck on shore they’d dry out, but Armitage was sure how much truth was in it. He suspected that after some time of breathing air his throat would start to hurt more, or that long exposure to air could even permanently damage him, but he hadn’t had a chance, thankfully, to test it.

Merfolk in Arkanis tended to stay away from the surface. There is nothing there, they liked to say, only madcaps would stick their face to the air willingly. The prince wasn't a madcap, he was a scientist. Or he called himself one. And as a scientist he had to explore the world, the whole world, not only the part covered in water. 

Armitage took five long exhales and inhales before putting the glasses on. He’d done it dozens of times before. Each time he felt trepidation, a bite of fear that very soon turned into sheer excitement. He made one more inhale and he stuck his head out to the surface.

The first time—before he had glasses—it’d felt weird and scary. The air had pricked his eyes. The world had been blurred. He’d spend mere seconds there before ducking back and breathing water, shaking his head rapidly. After that, he’d tried again and again, and again. Now even without glasses, the surface world didn’t frighten him. He’d seen all the wonders he’d only read about: big white birds, that called seagulls, all types of clouds, tiny and untasty insects and the most fascinating — humans. He’d seen fishing boats, a few big ugly ships, and once, when he’d heard booms and swam to the sound, he’d seen the battle between two ships. It was like a beautiful dream. Their weapon was more destructive than he could have imagined. And his books claimed that humans even had gadgets to hunt whales from their boats. How developed must be their civilization to hunt those colossal creatures in the water?

All of those wonders Armitage had seen were closer to human lands, where he was explicitly forbidden to go literally by every grown-up in his life, who had an ability to forbid anything to the prince — his late brother, Rae, his father, and even his nannies.

But it didn’t matter today, here close to the Dread Rocks, he was alone. He could enjoy the relaxing sensation of the wind, the gentle feeling of drying water on his skin and speculate about his future.

Or so he thought.

On the horizon, he saw a dark shape of the ship and colorful flashes above it. His first instinct was to dive back, but his curiosity got better of him.

He swam toward the ship, moving his fins as fast as he could. Armitage was lucky it was approaching him too. While he was moving, he didn’t take his eyes away from the pink and green splashes in the sky, and when he got closer he heard deafening claps as if someone were playing the biggest drum. Between the claps and booms was added to the peculiar but happy music.

Armitage was near the ship’s stern in no time and had a chance to inspect it. The ship was beautiful, with carvings and painted sides, with sails and flags on the top of it. The splashes in the sky came from its surface, and from its side, black cannons were making small explosions. 

The whole experience left Armitage awestruck, and he almost forgot about his mission when the ship was passing him. Right, he was searching for human power, not studying human music, and—whatever those splashes were. The decision came immediately, and Armitage started acting.

Approaching humans was dangerous but he had resolved to do it. The ship moved slowly, so Armitage without an effort grabbed one of the ropes hanging from it, pulling himself up. His hands ached, and muscles on his shoulders were overstrained, when he got to the top of the wooden side and was able to peek inside the ship. 

And there he saw humans that closely for the first time. They stood right in front of his eyes on the wooden floor, and they seemed to have a celebration of sorts.

Armitage was shocked to admit it but humans looked almost exactly like them. They weren’t like ugly creatures in the stories to scare merchildren, with hooks instead of their hands. Not like fat green blobs they were depicted in Armitage’s books. They are like us, he thought, but they don’t have claws or fangs and they have two thin tails. Legs, they were called legs.

Armitage took his journal from his bag and made a quick sketch — it wasn’t easy without water and when he was balancing sitting on his tail, but he managed to do it, although admittedly it wasn’t his best picture.

He was finishing drawing the one with a big belly when one of the humans sat down just near the place Armitage was hanging. 

Armitage immediately hid and gingerly peeked at the newcomer. Armie's gaze was drawn to the man’s face because the man was strikingly and undeniably beautiful. His skin was light brown. He had dark curly hair, noble features, and a warm, seemingly constant smile.

“I just want to stop this war, you know my friend,” he said to someone Armitage couldn’t see. His voice was husky and nice.

With a surprise, Armitage realized that humans speak different languages than merfolk.

All the merpeople spoke one language, with minor dialects as far as he knew but the human's speech was different. With even more of a surprise, he realized that he somehow understood the meaning of the sentence without understanding the separate words.

The other human must have answered, but it was hard to hear anything over the loud music.

“I want my country to be prosperous. I want my people to leave in peace, to tend to their land, to raise their kids, and not to be afraid for their lives. I want to open a University, and not spend money on warships. War has never led to anything good, and when it’s over people aren’t even sure what they fought for,” the handsome one said, and Armitage agreed with every word.

“My prince, if they attack us...” said the other voice, that belonged to someone older.

“If they attack, I will protect my people, but I refuse to strike first, based on rumors and whispers.”

The prince? Armitage suspected that humans also have countries, but he wasn’t expecting that his first interaction with humans would be with their ruler. He didn’t believe in destiny, but maybe it was it.

Armitage sat there for more, way past the sunset, listening to the prince—his name was Poe—he talked about progress and science, and that he values stability and order. The music got quieter, and the prince started singing.

That was a beautiful moment, Armitage even forgot about his sore throat, his ache in the eyes and pain in his chest. He was looking at the prince, listening to his voice, feeling like he’d never felt before. Armitage was enchanted with the moment, that he didn’t realize what was going on until it was too late.

And then he saw it. The ship was heading right to the rocks.

“Reefs,” Armie screamed on top of his gills.

Poe turned to his voice, and Armitage jumped to the safety of the water before the prince raised his head and noticed him.

Armitage heard panicking screaming in the ship. They were going to crash. There was no way humans would find the narrow way between rocks that were only manageable to find from above the surface if you knew where it was. Their chances of survival were meager, and if they tried to turn they’d meet rocks with their side. The shore was far away from there, and Armitage wasn’t sure that he would be able to swim to it with a human in his arms if it came to it.

Armitage’s mind worked with the speed of a racing dolphin. He took the locket, caught the lights from the ship, and with trembling hands pointed to the spot where the safe passage between rocks must be. He was moving the locket up and down, making the light spot dance, and praying to the ancestors to get their attention.

“There,” he heard Poe’s scream. “We need to go there!”

“Miracle! It’s God's will. Sail there!” more voices were screaming.

Armitage stayed on the surface pointing the right direction until the ship didn't safely pass the reefs. He was ready to dive when he saw Poe, standing on the stern and looking directly at him.

* * *

“I don’t know,” said Armitage, looking up at the blurred sun, “My wild guess — our beloved King is going to announce my engagement. It was long overdue, we’ve been shopping for the wedding for the last two weeks. Why else would he gather the hall city in front of the castle gates?”

“To announce the new war? Our beloved and wise King loves his wars.”

“That would be too soon. And too grand of a gesture even for him.”

“Frankly, he can do both. My son is getting married, who cares, let’s swim somewhere and kill someone. Arr.”

Armitage turned his head and finally met Phasma’s deep blue eyes. She was brazenly smirking at him. Who else but she could mock the King in front of his son and not even pretend that she cared to be polite?

They laid on a soft weed rug on the nice sunny meadow that was part of Phasma’s family estate. A wicker basket with various snacks and light summer spores floated above the rug's center.

They’d eaten and sniffed almost half of its content, during the last hour that they’d spent chattering together. As always in her home everything was the best quality, probably grown, harvested, and produced in their lands. And the House of Orcamer was known for the great products.

Almost a week had passed after he’d seen the human prince’s ship before Armitage was able to sneak away from the castle, preparations, fittings, and the boring discussion about the color palette for the wedding, and swam to Phasma. And for the first time in weeks, he could just relax, have a nice picnic and talk with his only friend.

As so many times before, Armitage caught himself thinking that Phasma was too beautiful and it was unfair. Merpeople thought he was pretty or cute, but in that way that most mermen of his age were. Phasma on the other hand, was unbelievably, strikingly, and unfairly beautiful. All heads turned to her when she entered the room. Add to that that she was wealthy and powerful and that her parents, who were rumored to ignore each other, actually loved and spoiled their only daughter Phasma. Armitage envied her, and someday he was surprised and couldn’t understand why he didn’t hate her for all she had. Maybe because he cherished his talks with Phasma way too much.

“You know what I don’t understand? Why do they keep your marriage a secret? Why does no one seem to know who you're going to marry?” Phasma said, after stiffing a bit more of spores, “Why didn't your father make an announcement during the feast? Everyone important already was there.”

“I don’t know,” Armitage confessed. He thought about that too. Brendol didn’t even tell him anything concrete. Just hints and allusion. Even Rae didn’t want to discuss anything, “Maybe he enjoys playing with my head. I mean, he definitely does, but maybe he finally decided to do it more subtly, huh? Or he didn’t want to share the spotlight during the celebration. Or he sniffed too many white spores and forgot about it. It’s King Brendol. You know him.”

“Thankfully not,” she chuckled shortly, “And when do you think your wedding is going to happen? Any guesses?”

“Are you fishing for the intel? Gathering information for your family’s business?”

“Always. Problems?”

“I thought you might grow to care about me, just because of, well, me, not as part of your spying.”

“I might have started to like you, dear. It doesn’t stop me to investigate when my family will need to be ready to supply your wedding with the best food, sniffs, and decorations. And it’s in your interest to tell me everything.”

Armitage hadn’t told her that his husband was going to be Prince Rhones.

Armie had known Phasma since they were eleven. They played together. They’d learned together to ride dolphins. They shared secrets. Yet, they never forgot who they were and where their loyalty laid. The undoubted fact that she would easily betray him for her family upset Armitage much more than it should.

“It would be unwise to do it in winter, or it'll be a pain in the arse for the guests to come and for us to organize everything,” Armitage thought out loud, deciding that the speculation about the date wasn’t the sensitive information “The wedding must be before the war. And the most reasonable start for the war in the middle of the spring… So I guess, during the next couple of months, maybe a month and a half, if they want to solidify the alliance before anyone changes their mind.”

“A month and a half. That’s fast. On the bright side, they say the late spring is the best time to give birth.”

Armitage studied her face. A sly slight smile. A theatrically raised perfect eyebrow. The eyes challenging him to talk about  _ that _ .

Nothing new — Phasma liked to talk about sex. After having her first time during the Winter Solstice party the previous year, bedroom adventures had become one of her favorite topics, right behind domestic policy and court rumors. She was dumping on Armitage a lot of unsolicited information that made him blush and want to ask silly questions. He felt like an unknowing merchild around her, but couldn’t admit that to her.

“I— Well, why? It’s not necessary to get pregnant right after the wedding. Maybe we will wait for that. Some couples prefer not to have children for the first few years.”  _ I’ll put a baby in you right after our marriage vow _ s, he remembered and felt his cheeks getting warmer.

“Uhg, why not? Wait for what? Or do you want them to give birth? I assumed that your daddy found someone who will join him in the battle, and won’t have time for breastfeeding. And I thought you liked it the other way. Or does your future spouse like it? How do you know that?” she swam closer to him and laid on her side, sprawling and piercing him with her eyes. “Or is that mysterious future spouse and mysterious merperson from the Summer palace the same mysterious person?”

She snickered rather loudly, and it took Armitage a moment to realize what she was talking about.

Yeah, the mysterious lover from the Summer Palace. Armitage had exaggerated his own experience to her after one of her very descriptive stories. He had come up with a vague story about someone very secret but very important with whom Armie had an affair during his stay in their summer residence. Phasma had been asking questions about that mysterious lover ever since.

“You know I can’t tell you that,” he sighed “Really, I can’t tell you anything. Not until Brendol announced everything. Hopefully, it'll be tomorrow, and then we can discuss it.”

“Armie, darling, you don’t talk with me about important stuff, you refuse to talk about your sex life. Then what do you want to talk to? Care to listen about our fertilizer problems for the spore farms? I can talk about that for hours...”

“Do I care about fertilizers? Not much,” he smirked. She didn’t care either. He knew she faked her exasperation. He knew her well. “But if you want to share secrets, my dear friend, you can enlighten me on the House of Orcamer’s views on the next war. Or is that too much to ask from my dear friend?”

They stared at each other until she gave him a charming smile.

“Well, it depends,” she said.

“On what?”

“Let me think. On whom are you marrying, for once? On tax refunds that your father is going to suggest to us. If he’s going to suggest any. On the next harvest. And, because you won’t answer the first two questions, and about the harvest, we will know only in the autumn, my answer to your question is we will wait and see. And in the meantime, it’s up to you, my darling and dear friend, must use what nature gave you to ensure that your spouse is happy and content, so he—and I assume it’s he if Queen Eia didn’t decide to take a second husband—so he supports your father's pointless war.”

“What if there is no war?” Armitage said before he could stop himself.

“Your father is keen on revenge. Isn’t he?” Phasma said, all humor disappeared. Suddenly she was very attentive.

“What if there were someone else who rules Arkanis?”

“Well, no war is good for business. I like peace. I love it. Peace is more predictable, as a merchant and as a regular citizen” she said, choosing her words. “But it won’t be that good for the potential new ruler of Arkanis.”

“Care to elaborate?”

“The treasury is almost empty. Do not argue, I have a good source on that one. If this merperson ascended the throne before the spring, he,” she glared at Armitage, “would face the nation who blames him for everything that your father did. If that new ruler arrives with the foreign army and foreign husband, it’ll give the crowd more reasons to hate him. Our people don’t like foreigners, and won’t be happy with a foreign ruler. It’s all curable, but if our neighbors sense weakness, they might decide to strike. So this potential new ruler will be facing both domestic and foreign threats. And that’s the reason why Orcamers currently find your father’s throne so uncomfortable, even if, completely theoretically, of course, we could have taken it.”

She was right. That’s all the reasons he knew perfectly well himself. He’d thought about that way too many times when he'd been so angry with his father.

“What if,” he paused, weighing his options and his trust in her “What if someone has powers, knowledge, arms to stop both the foreign invasion and inner riots. Would the House of Orcamer stand beside that ruler and give him a loan to help feed the poor?”

“Armie… Yes, if you find a way to take your father’s trident or a way to multiply its powers or any other magical way to ensure that our lovely neighbors won’t attack, my family will back up your claim to the throne. Did you find something like that?”

“Not yet, but...”

Armitage inhaled a full chest of water before he started telling her the story about his encounter with the human prince and the mighty weapons that humans have. He told her the short version, very vague short version, admitting how handsome the prince was, and that their ship was almost crushed. With each sentence, her eyes grew wider.

“It’s madness. Worst of all, it's treason,” she said after the story was over. “It’s forbidden to interact with humans.”

“Do you want to tell my father?”

“Not really,” she sighed, “I do think you are out of your mind, but I don’t want to see your execution. What do you want to do with all that? You can’t stick your head out of the water and wait for the next human ship to negotiate the terms with them.”

“They say the trident has transformation powers,” he said, not sure. His breathing device was just a sketch. There was no way he’d be able to finish it before his marriage. “Old legends say that it’s possible to transform a human into a merperson, it must be possible the other way around.”

“Yeah,” she laughed loudly, “They also say that the Sea Warlock has such powers.”

The idea struck like lightning in Armitage’s head. Negotiating with Kylo Ren was more plausible than stealing the trident from Brendol.

“You can’t be serious, Armie,” she said, after seeing his face, “That’s even crazier than your fascination with humans. It’s Snoke. He’s unpredictable, and no one knows where he is now.”

The Sea Warlock was unpredictable, Armitage knew it first hand, but it wasn’t Snoke who could have helped him.

“I wasn’t thinking about it.”

“You were. I saw it,” Phasma said, “You keep doing it. And sea witches and warlocks are known for tricky contracts. You make a deal with them and then nothing can be done. You ask them for a love potion, then you are forced to give them your firstborn.”

“That’s just ridiculous legends. What are they doing with so many babies?”

“I don’t want to think about it. Something horrible. Maybe made love potions from them, maybe made them their students, or I don’t know, maybe eat them. Have you seen that old ugly monster?”

“Yet both the crown and your family worked with Snoke.”

“Because we hadn’t another choice. And we couldn’t be happier that the old monster disappeared. He was creepy. Kylo Ren is rude but at least he doesn’t look like he wants to make a stew from you and feed it to your family.”

“Without Snoke, it might work...” trailed off Armitage.

“Yeah,” she smirked, “Kylo Ren might do that for you.”

“What do you mean?”

“He looks at you, you know that, right?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, he looks at everyone. If with Snoke it was ‘I’ll make a necklace from your bones’, then with Ren it’s ‘I’ll fight you’.”

“Fight you? That’s how you call it, darling?”

“You insinuations offend my royal highness,” Armitage faked a stern face, but his thoughts were elsewhere.

During his last visits to the castle without Snoke, Kylo Ren had never worn his usual helmet. It was like that ugly black thing had disappeared with the ugly old warlock.

Armitage had seen Ren’s face before, even when he’d come with Snoke — back then, almost five years ago, it’d shocked Armitage how normal Ren looked. He wasn't a monster. Yes, he had light violet skin, and golden eyes, but other than that his face looked regular. A big nose that might have been broken, plush lips, angular features, crooked teeth. Not handsome, but not ugly either. But most of all Armitage had been shocked by the tips of his big ears sticking from his dark hair. It’d been just so unexpected from the mighty creature, that could kill, allegedly, with the wave of his hand.

And when he’d looked at Armitage—no, not looked, stared right in the middle of the throne room, right in front of the court— it’d felt like Armitage was the only important person in the room. He’d thought it’d been his imagination, but apparently Phasma also had noticed it.

“Hey, I was just joking. It’s all stupid talk because I know that your royal brain is much smarter than trusting that octopus. And your royal hand is going to be officially promised to someone mysterious but very important tomorrow at noon. So all this doesn’t make any sense to discuss,” she said quickly “But the King, does he have such powers? Maybe you could trick him to send spies?”

“I don’t think so. He won’t buy it. And I’m not sure that trident can do that. It’s an offensive weapon and Brendol doesn’t have the knowledge to wield it, even if it’s possible. But...”

“What?”

“Maybe Brendol can strike a deal with Ren, and then I can instruct that spy, or...”

“Or you are going to get in really big trouble.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It supposed to be MerMay fic, but it got a bit bigger than I expected.  
> I plan to post chapters once per week, each Monday. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
> 
> If you like it don't hesitate to like and leave a comment. I love your comments.
> 
> * * *
> 
> You can find me [tumblr](https://mysticmilks.tumblr.com), [twitter](https://twitter.com/mystic_milks) or [curiousCat](https://curiouscat.me/mystic_milks)
> 
> Many thanks to [@spiteandmalice ](https://twitter.com/spiteandmalice) for beta reading!
> 
> * * *
> 
> Shameless self-promo:  
>  _modern AUs:_  
>  Famous Russian AU, that my friends and I translated [To the Moon and Back](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22380280/)  
> Demon!Hux / hunter!Kylo [Dating a monster](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26703904)  
> Hux/Kylo/Techie, pwp with feelings and bottom!Kylo [You can have it all, but not all at once](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22721863/)  
> Russian train AU [The train on fire](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23477458/)  
> roommates AU, there was only one bed [Up All Night](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18018218/)  
> co-workers on a long business trip, friends to lovers [my face above the water, my feet can't touch the ground](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19928956/)
> 
>  _Canon:_  
>  post-tlj, media AU [you are burned up before you know it](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17705078)
> 
>  _Fantasy AUs:_  
>  Hux is a merman, Kylo is a Sea Warlock [The Little Merman](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24610624/)  
> Arranged marriage, Hux needs to marry a mysterious man and Kylo needs to deliver him there [drop the curtain, blow out the candles](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17462159)
> 
>  _Collection of ficlets_  
>  Ficlets for Kyluxpositivity [In all the worlds, in all the times](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25771663)


	3. The Sea Warlock

Armitage Hux floated in a small room, where the entrance to the balcony was and sat on one of the sponge couches. He felt unexpected, inexplicable apprehension but made an effort to hide it.

The royal family had been using that balcony to announce the important news for decades, maybe centuries. The wars have been started from it, treaties and victories declared. Both Armitage’s brother and sister’s birth had been announced there. Not Armitage’s, obviously, he was an illegitimate child, and no one had cared about him back then, but Brendol had announced Armie's official recognition from that exact spot. And, obviously, the upcoming weddings, that too should be announced on the balcony in front of the people of Arkanis.

The huge crowd had gathered outside. Everyone who mattered was at the front on an honorary platform, and hundreds of commoners herded on the square near the castle. They were making noises of anticipation and applauding every now and then.

The king and his right hand Rae Sloane were late, and Armitage felt more and more nervous with each moment. There was no reason for them not to be on time, and any reason with which Armie was able to come up was worse than the previous one.

He should have talked with his father yesterday. He even prepared the speech where he outlined all advantages they would get if they sent the expedition to the human world. The plan was simple: transform someone and send them to spy on humans, and when they were back, get the information before his father understood what it was for.

At first, Armie had been too afraid, and then, when he’d finally found the guts to swim to his father's chambers, the guards had told him that the King had an important meeting. Probably it’d been code for something gross.

He’d talk with Brendol after the ceremony. The father would be in a good mood, as he always was after addressing his merpeople. Lady Sloane would also be there. She was a smart merwoman — she would see that it was plausible and would help Armitage to convince his father. When his plan succeeded and their spies came back with the gathered data, Armitage would tell her all the other steps. Together they’d overthrow Brendol. With Armitage marrying the Prince Rhones, he’d need a governor in Arkanis until their merchild was born, and who could do that better than renowned Rae Sloane?

The door opened with a thump. Accompanied by more guards than usual, his father and his second in command swam in. Both of them were wearing ceremonial white chest plates, medals, and capes. Armitage was pleased to see that Brendol didn’t drag his favorite with him. If Aniko was with Brendol in front of the crown, that’d mean that they were together for real, almost like admitting that they were planning to marry too. And that could destroy all Armitage’s plans.

“Armie, we are pleased to see that today you deigned to come on time,” said his father, with a soft voice, way soft, “And your pearls are especially nice today.”

“Thank you, dear father,” he answered, politely bowing his head.

“You are indeed looking great, my Prince,” said Rae. Something was odd with her voice too. Too neutral, maybe. Armitage didn’t like it — she avoided his eyes, while the father was staring at him.

The implications were disturbing, but Armitage didn’t have time to contemplate it. He followed his father’s lead and entered the balcony, Rae Sloane one stroke behind them.

The three of them faced the roaring, booming, and cheering crowd. The merpeople under them yelled so happily as if they expect their ruler to start tossing pearls.

Brendol smiled, lifted his arm up, and waved to the crowd — the perfect lovable monarch. Armitage and Lady Sloane repeated after him like two backup dancers for a prima. To the left, on the platform for important guests, Armie saw the silver of Phasma’s hair. He broadened his smile at her.

“Citizens of Arkanis,” Brendol put his hand down and started his speech. “This year was not an easy year for all of us—”

His voice was loud and clear. Armitage’s father wasn’t good at many things, but giving speeches was his strong suit. Merpeople loved to listen to him. He commanded respect, changed the intonation in the right places, and even if often he tended to speak for a long time he wasn’t boring. Armitage was probably the only person in there who was afraid to fall asleep, that was a strange effect his father’s speeches had on him.

Unexpectedly Armie’s thoughts drifted to Kylo Ren. Even if Armitage convinced Brendol to ask for his help would the octoman agree? Would Ren agree if Armitage asked himself?

Phasma had joked that Ren had a personal interest in him, but the prince wasn’t sure if that was the case. Armitage admitted that there was something peculiar in how Ren looked at him. That octoman had a strangely expressive face, all his emotions were written there. Too bad there was no guide added on how to interpret those emotions.

Around two years ago, in the spring, Sea Warlock Snoke and his apprentice Kylo Ren had been summoned to the castle. Armitage remembered it very well because it was only a week after his seventeenth birthday. Brendol had wanted to enforce the protection on the far reach of the kingdom, where outlaws terrorized a small town. The king had paid for their service with the chest of coins, and a dozen old artifacts that’d been gathering sand in their storage.

“I need two days to finish the work, a squadron of soldiers for manual labor, and someone from the castle who knows the terra,” Kylo Ren had said, the voice distorted with the mask. Back then he had been still wearing it constantly.

“My young son Armie will come with you, and show what we want to be done. He can give you all the help you need. He knows that country,” Brendol had said superciliously.

At that, Ren had taken his helmet off, revealing his young-looking face. Now when Armitage remembered it, he thought that during all those years, while Armitage himself had changed a lot, Ren looked exactly the same as the first time, when thirteen-year-old Armitage had seen him without his helmet. 

“I need a merperson who can show me around. I don’t need to babysit the juvenile prince,” he’s said, angrily glaring at Armitage.

“My son knows that part of the country well enough — it’s not far from our Summer Palace, and he spent a lot of time there, and I assure you, Lord Ren, Armie won’t add you any additional trouble for you.”

Ren had looked like he was going to argue, but Snoke had looked at him and Ren had simply bowed with “Yes, master.”

King Brendol had called for Armitage after that meeting.

“Don’t let these conjurors scam us,” his father told him “Check that the stupid wall is working, that it can’t be penetrated even on the surface. Do not disappoint me. I don’t want that octofreak and his wrinkly master to make us pay for nothing. I really hope you can get this simple task done, can you?”

“Yes, father.”

Overseeing Ren’s work hadn’t been a hard task. Early in the morning, they’d left the castle, riding the dolphins. Other than a chest with Ren’s artifacts, they had taken the food supplies for two days and beddings, and nothing else. The work itself had been as simple as it can be: Armitage had shown the place, Ren had made gestures, muttered the strange words, and crushed some red crystals and the soldiers were putting the rocks on the places that Ren had pointed to. The basic idea was that the wall should have worked like the castle wall, or any other magic wall around the house – designate the area and cover it with an almost invisible field that wasn’t possible to cross. Theoretically, even not warlocks could do it, in practice, it was too dangerous — magic was raw and unpredictable when it wasn't locked in objects like Brendol’s trident.

Inwardly going back to those two days, Armitage was trying to remember if there was something more than annoyance coming from Kylo Ren. Maybe loneliness, but it was hard to tell now after two years because the octoman made a point from not interacting with Armitage more than had been strictly necessary. Even at night Ren had preferred not to stay with them in the impromptu camp, but had swum away, and come back in the morning. 

Brendol’s loud laugh and subsequent clapping drag Armitage back from his daydreaming.

“And the biggest and most excited news for all of us: I’m delighted to announce that my beloved son Armitage is going to marry King Pryde the ruler of Alsakan.”

Only the years of rigorous training and strict lessons of etiquette prevented Armitage from turning his pretty smile into a shocked grimace. That must be a mistake. It was a slip of the tongue. Surely his father had meant Prince Rhones. He was supposed to marry Prince Rhones. Rae Sloane had told him so. She wouldn’t lie. Damned Prince Rhones, had told him so. Hadn't he? It was a mistake, and his father was going to correct himself. Any moment now.

“The wedding is going to be in three weeks here before the eyes of all the citizens of Arkanis. The great feast will be held. The honorable guests from all over our beautiful country and outside of it are going to come. For all of the other citizens, the great feast is going to be held on the market square. After the ceremony, the happy couple will leave for the kingdom of Alsakan. We will unite our powers and make both nations stronger. Long live Arkanis!”

“Long live Arkanis,” Armitage found himself muttering, completely dumbfounded. That was all a bad dream.

“Long live Arkanis,” cried the crowd in one loud cheerful voice. “Long live the King.”

“Long live the—” Armitage couldn't even finish, his hands began to tremble. This could not be true. This didn’t make any sense. Not at all.

Leaving the balcony Armitage thought he saw Phasma, with almost unmasked shock on her face, but he couldn’t be sure from that distance. He wasn’t sure about anything at that point.

They came back inside the castle, and Armitage stopped there, not knowing what to say next. King Pryde? Armitage had been contemplating all the possibilities for his future spouse, way before his marriage age. And Pryde's name had never appeared on his list as a viable option. Too old, too many heirs, too old, didn’t have a strong army, way too old.

“Aren’t you happy son?” he heard Brendol’s voice.

Armitage realized that he was stuck there. He moved his gaze up, meeting his father’s satisfied face, then moved his eyes to Rae’s. She was just floating near him, looking less emotional than the stone giant mermaids in the throne room.

“Why?” Armitage mumbled, his tongue not obeying him. “Why?”

“What do you mean why, son?”

King Pryde was older than Armie's father. He was way past his baby-making age. Armitage was pretty sure that he was way past the age where one was even interested and capable of attempting anything related to reproductive activities. And even if by some miracle that ancient blobfish would be able to put his festering seed into Armitage, Enric Pryde had so many children and grandchildren, that it wasn’t possible that Armie’s baby would even inherit his throne. And his father must understand that.

“What did I—, What did I do wrong? Did I— did I offend you somehow, father?”

“I don’t understand you, Armitage, if you want to ask something, then stop mumbling and articulate your questions as the prince does.”

“He— I thought—”

“You thought wrong,” Brendol interrupted him.

“What if I don’t do it?” Armitage said, hissing between his fangs, swimming closer and staring at his father, “What if I don’t marry that walking deadmer?!”

Armitage didn’t register the movement. He felt acute pain in his cheek and chin, his teeth rattled, and salty taste filled his mouth. Brendol slapped him. In front of Lady Sloane. In front of the guards. Mere feet away from the balcony, and cheering crowd.

That wasn’t the first time Brendol hit him, but he had always been discreet about it. And before that, he’d always be intoxicated, blubbering nonsense about Bran and his ex-spouses. It never had been with that utter unhidden disdain.

For a moment Brendol was pointing the trident at him, and Armitage felt scared like a merbaby. The moment passed, and his father put it down.

Lady Rae didn’t say a word. The guards didn’t react.

Armitage straightened up, covering his cheek, not able to look at any of them, his chest burning with resentment.

“You ungrateful bastard,” hissed Brendol.

He didn’t scream. He didn’t even frown. And it hurt more than his smack.

”How dare you even think of disobeying your father and your King? That's treason. It is in my right to drag your sorry ass back to that balcony and execute you for that. I took you from your ungrateful mother. I gave you my name. You ate the best food from my table and wore the best jewels that I bought for you. And that’s how you act in return, whitebait?“ Brendol came closer, and Armitage thought that Brendol would hit him again, but he just floated higher hanging over him, trident in hand.

”You, as weak and pathetic as you are, are the heir of my throne. And you will do as I command you. You’ll marry the King, you will go with him, and you will do everything to make him happy. You can do it as a prince and future ruler of this sea, with dignity and love for your country, or I’ll personally drag you to the chapel, even if that means to humiliate our House in front of the whole Arkanis. Is that understandable, son?”

Armitage’s throat was tight. The blood was pulsing in his temples and his heart was smashing in his chest like a caught fish. He moved his gaze from Rae back to his father challenging them to say or do something.

Only the noise from outside was interrupting the tense silence between them. He wanted to scream at Brendol that he’d never been a father to him. The words were already formed in his mouth when he saw Rae shaking his head slightly, almost unnoticeable. She had lied to him. He shouldn't listen to her advice. Yet, it was all the support he had now.

Armitage turned his head down defeated.

“Yes, father.”

“Good.” Brandol backed away, floating down “Now go to your chambers. And don’t leave until you are allowed to. I don’t want to see your ungrateful tail roaming around my castle.”

“Yes, father.”

“My king, I’ll accompany the prince, if you allow,” Rae said. 

“As you wish, High Commander,” Brandol said and swam away without looking at anyone, his guards followed.

Armitage didn’t quite remember the way to his chambers. He was marginally aware that two guards were swimming near them, on both sides. Was he a prisoner now? Was Brendol serious about not leaving the room? The father couldn’t possibly… although at that point he wasn’t sure what to expect from Brendol.

When they approached the door to the prince's bedchamber, Rae gestured to the guards to stay outside.

“I’m sorry, Armitage,” she said when the door disappeared behind them.

He didn't want to respond. He swam to his bed, falling on it and looking at the ceiling. She betrayed him. He didn’t care about her words, even though he had never heard Rae apologizing to anyone. Even to his father.

“Brendol told me only today during the meeting. He came up with that plan himself. He didn’t listen to any objection.”

“Did he explain his decision to you?” Armitage asked emotionlessly, regarding twirls and curls decorating his room.

“No.”

He didn’t deign to comment on that. His father was the King. He could do whatever he wanted. And today he wanted his only son to be sent away and become a plaything for an old merman.

“Your father is not an idiot,” she said after a long pause.

“Oh, really? What clue you on that.”

“His current decision, dear.” She came closer and sat on his bed. “He suspected that his heir didn’t have warm feelings for his old father. Your father guessed that if he married you to prince Rhones and if you and he combined your ambition, and had a legitimate heir to both thrones, both Brendol and old king Lucius would have a sad but deadly accident sooner than later. But without an army, without an heir, and without any sustainable power behind, you won’t be able to unite Arkanis, and won’t dare to start a rebellion.”

“I wasn’t going to kill Brendol,” Armitage whispered, not sure if that was a lie.

“You did a horrible job showing that.”

“And what about the Prince Rhones? Brendol needs his army, doesn’t he? And Pryde doesn’t have enough forces to win the war for him.”

“Rhones is going to marry one of King Pryde’s younger daughters. It should have been announced today. So all three armies are united now. Rhones might not like it, but his father Lucius is still a king and he promised his support for Arkanis.”

“United along with Alsakan, with Pryde and his stupid daughter. Not with Arkanis,” Armitage said, trying not to scream. 

“But united nevertheless. We can win the war with these unions.”

“It’s too unstable. Father must see it. If Lucius dies, Rhones won’t support that war. It doesn’t make any sense for him! He must hate Brendol after that trick. It makes Arkanis less strong, and a worse option for all of us!”

“Not for your father. That way Brendol can sleep soundly at night knowing that you won’t usurp his throne. You should have played the role of a loving son and not act suspiciously, Armitage. And now your father is hoping to make another heir with his favorite.”

He turned around from her, facing the window. The sea was red in the last rays of the evening sun.

“What if I talk with him?” Armitage’s voice is weak. “What if I explain to him that he has nothing to fear? I can formally decline the throne if that will make him change his mind. I want the best for our country, and this solution is not it.”

“It’s too late, darling,” her hand caresses his shoulder, “It can’t be changed. You need to accept your fate. It's better to do it with your head high. Now it’s the best thing you can do for Arkanis now. If we lose this union, we will lose the unstable military support that we have now.”

“What if I find another way? I know there is—”

“Don’t say human’s power, Armitage,” her voice was soft, and she kept caressing him like she hasn't done for years. “You need to grow up, my dear merboy. You need to become the merman who will lead our country when the time comes. Your father can’t have any more children. Whatever that harlot Aniko is whispering to his ear is a lie. He can’t. He might not accept but it’s true. Not even magic can help him. You are the true heir and only of Arkanis, even if our King is not happy with that. Go to Alsakan, learn everything you can, and when you come back your army will wait for you, Armitage.”

_Armitage is breathing heavily into his neck._

_Moaning._

_Whining._

_Armitage’s lips are tracing kisses along his jawline. Someone’s fingertips, soft and tender, slide down Armie's spine. The wave of pleasure covers him, making Armitage arch his back. He mumbles something into his partner’s ear. Something stupid, something full of promises, something weak. Why would he say all those things to him?_

_Armitage is naked. The man under him is naked too. Their bodies are pressed to each other._

_The room is huge and bright. They are sitting on the throne. No, the man is sitting on the throne and Armitage is sitting on his lap. He knows it’s a throne, but he’s never seen thrones like that. Like what, Armitage can’t grasp the full image, but the impression of it is firm and angular. And he knows it’s important._

_All of his body is soft and smooth and vulnerable, not covered with protective scales, without his claws and fangs._

_He leans closer to the man. Armitage’s legs are on both sides of his knees. He has legs, and the man does too. The man caresses the skin on Armitage’s thighs — up and down, slow and lovingly._

_Armie puts his fingers—clawless, membrane-less—into man’s dark hair. It’s soft like young seaweed and pleasant like the touch of waves._

_The low voice whispers right into Armitage’s head, “We can have all we want. We can do all we dreamed of. We can be free, my love. If you allow me to stand by your side.”_

_“I can save you if you save me.”_

_Who says that, and does it really matter?_

_“I need you.”_

_It’s true, Armie knows it’s true, and that’s the last thing before their lips touch._

He woke up in his bed, still feeling tender touches of that man. And then Armitage understood, he felt his own legs. He couldn't fall asleep for a long time thinking about the meaning of it all. He didn’t remember the man, only some details.

It must be prince Poe. He was the only human Armitage had seen.

It was him.

He was the answer.

Armitage wasn’t able to sleep for the rest of the night. He was staring at the green ceiling, not seeing it completely engulfed in his planning. The decision had already formed in his head in the first few seconds after his vivid and unusual dream. He was laying there, on his big sponge bed, that he had been using since he’d been acknowledged as Brendol’s son and heir.

He was scared. Terrified. It was so much easier to stay, marry the king and accept his fate, as lady Sloane had told him. But would Rae Sloane do that herself? She wasn’t the one who was swimming with the flow, nor had been Armitage’s mother if rumors that he’d heard around the castle were true. They said she had run away. They said she had been fierce and rebellious. And so was her son.

Finally gathered determination, Armitage came to his drawer. He grabbed spare coins — not much, as a prince he’d been rarely paying for himself, or paying at all. He took his most valuable jewelry and pushed them into his traveling shoulder bag. Then, after contemplation that for a moment, he shoved his tiara there too.

It was close to dawn when he peeked in the hall. He was expecting that his room was guarded, but no one was near his door. He was covered in his cowl that he used for visiting the city. He swam through almost empty corridors, meeting only sentinels on his way down. Most of them were sleeping on their post. Armitage used the side gates to exit the castle walls. It wasn't guarded either. The enchanted lock on them worked as it did any other day.

To his surprise, he didn’t need to sneak out of the castle. No one tried to stop him. It was even easier to leave than during the last week when each moment of his day was scheduled.

It made sense, in some twisted way.

If his father wanted to get rid of him, Armitage running away would be like a Winter Solstice present for him. More likely Brendol thought that Armitage was a weak coward. Where would a spoiled prince without any real supporters run? Armitage would show him where. Armitage would show all of them.

He headed south, passing the city limits. The journey to the sea warlock would take around three hours. To the moment when he arrived there, they’d notice his absence in the castle. Belatedly he realized that it’d be much smarter to leave at night, but he simply couldn't come back and wait for the day to end. The whole affair was utter madness, and the less he thought about it the better.

The sun was up, when he reached the shallow waters, pausing in front of the cave mouth.

Although Armitage could almost reach the surface with his hand when he floated horizontally, his surrounding waters were cold and dark. It’s just the shadow of the cliff, he told himself, nothing supernatural or creepy. The moment later he almost cried out when he saw bones between the rocks on the bottom. That must just be dolphins', but the bones were too thick. He decided not to look any closer.

Armitage hesitated before crossing the threshold. He still could change his mind. He could turn around and swim back home, saying that he was talking a long swim to clear his mind. He wouldn’t even lie. He could ask Phasma for help. She might not sponsor his rebellion, but might lend him some coins and help him find supporters outside of the country if he was persuasive. And another valuable option for him was to ask for protection from Prince Rhones. If Armitage was lucky he could convince the prince to start a war for him. If he’s not, Armitage was pretty sure that Rhones would be more than happy to have him in his court as a concubine.

Neither of those options made him happy.

He swallowed hard, reminding himself that first of all, he’s doing it for science, his country, and maybe a slim chance to find a decent partner. Looking at the dark walls covered with something icky that looks like slime, Armitage swam inside.

“Kylo Ren,” he screamed, but it came out as a whisper, “Warlock, I came to see you.”

There was no answer. It was dark. Only his own voice echoed back to him ‘U-u-u-u’.

Ren might not be there. Who knows what the warlock was doing all the time. Maybe he left to see some customers, or on hunting, or maybe it wasn’t Ren’s lair at all — maybe Armie got the wrong information. It wasn’t like there was a sign at the entrance.

“It’s prince Armitage Hux,” he said louder, floating forward into the big round hall. “From the House of Hux, the son of Brendol Hux, and the prince of Arkanis.”

The weak light appeared from nowhere in particular. It was like the water itself was glowing. There were shelves in the wall with artifacts, magic potions, and a lot of creepy things around him — it was definitely the warlock’s lair.

“I wish to talk to you Warlock!” Armitage yelled. This time it did come out at full volume, “I’m here for an official matter.” 

No answer.

He was trespassing. Probably Armitage should leave and wait for Ren outside. That was a polite thing to do.

He turned around to swim the heck away from that cursed place that was giving him major creeps. Something cold and sleek touched his shoulder. Ugh! Armitage reached his hand up to clean it, but the feeling disappeared. In the next second, he felt it on his other arm.

Armitage abruptly turned and looked up. Nothing. He turned around again and screamed, rather embracingly — Ren floated down on him from the low top of the cave. His tentacles were spreading around him in a circle, and he looked menacing.

“Welcome, prince,” Ren said, showing his white crooked fangs, “I didn’t intend to frighten you. Well, maybe a little. I just didn’t expect that it’d be that easy.”

The impudent creature laughed, putting one of the tips of his tentacles on Armitage’s upper arm, and then from the other side, kept snickering, until Armitage shook them off. Ren made an upset face and jumped one stroke away.

“Ren,” the prince hissed, quickly losing his temper, “I’d ask you to stop that charade.”

“That’s my home, Your Highness. I can act as I see fit. You on the other hand— To what do I owe a pleasure of your uninvited barging in?”

“I did not barge in. There was no door on which I could knock.”

“Poor prince, that must have been very confusing for you. Didn’t find a door, and decided to swim inside, ” Ren kept circling around Armitage with unexpected ankles, “You must have forgotten your manners from the happiness of your happy engagement.”

“How do you kn—”

“News travels fast, prince. Especially such interesting news. Such an interesting match. Did you visit me for a virility potion, dear prince?”

“Virility?” 

“Yes, virility,” said Ren, radiating mean joy, “You know, Armitage, to make what is soft and dead, firm again.”

“What? No! I—”

“Then the purpose of your visit is plain and simple — poison. Good choice. I can’t judge you, too many adopted grandkids are not suited for your age. But a poison for whom? I hope not for yourself, Your Highness. That’d be a tragedy.”

“No! Don’t be ridiculous. Why would—,” Armitage sighed, tired of the game. Tired of spinning his head. Tired of Ren swinging around. It was never easy with him, but today Ren was purposely difficult, “Poison?”

“To stop your future lovely marriage with the King-grandpa.”

“No.”

“Oh, no poison, no virility, then what Your Highness wants from me, huh?” Ren felt in front of him again, arms crossed on his chest, “Do you want to invite me to your wedding?”

Before Armitage was able to answer, Ren swam swiftly away, turning around on the other end of his cave and hissing, “Won’t be able to come, Your Highness, I have other plans for that day.”

“No,” Armitage said, gazing at him “You were right. I don’t want that wedding.”

“No jokes. Obviously.” Ren lazily floated back to him, all his eight tentacles swirling “So if it’s not marriage with a walking dead fish, then what do you want?”

“I’m in love with someone else,” whispers Armitage.

“You are?” Ren studied him “Oh, you are. Do you want a love potion?”

“No.”

“I thought so,” Ren said, rummaging on his shelves “You can manage that part yourself. Young pretty prince, with long tail and hair like a sunset, smart and witty — not a hard task for you to seduce someone. Then you want me to help you run away with them, huh? Sorry prince it’s not my specialty. Convince your father to allow the marriage? Also nope. I’m out of politics.”

“It’s not that. I need your help, but—” Armitage swims up to him, stopping behind Ren’s back, “That man… He’s a human.”

“A human?” Ren turned around, eyes as big as coins. “How?”

“How what?”

“How did you manage to have a romance with a human?”

His face was confusing. There were so many emotions: shock, anger, sadness, but Armitage couldn't decipher any of them. Maybe all octomen were just like that?

“I don’t understand why you need that information, but if you must know, I do not have a romance with him. I only saw him once.”

Ren laughed. It was a burst of cruel fake laughter. That was for sure.

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. You want to abandon your home, your country, and change yourself for a man you haven’t even talked with. What if this human doesn’t like you?”

“What’s your business? You told yourself that I don’t need the magical potion for someone to fall in love with me.”

“What if you don’t like that human? Have you thought about that?” Ren was screaming, and all the things on the shelves were rattling.

Armitage got tired of that conversation. It did not go as he’d planned.

“Can you turn me into a human? Yes or no!” he asked, managing to sound leveled.

Ren stared at him. His naked light violet chest was rising and falling. At that moment Armitage could have bet all that he owned—not much regarding—on Ren slapping him, or strangling him, or destroying everything in his own home. Nothing like that happened. Ren groaned loudly and descended to the bottom of the cave.

“It’s possible. Not even complicated. A bit of this, a bit of that, and a bit of magic, and bada-boom - you have legs and everything else. You would be surprised at how easy it actually is. But there is another question. An important question, prince, — why would I risk facing the wrath of your father for doing that?”

“My father would never find out if you won’t tell him. No one knows that I’m here. And King Brendol would not be very bothered to search for me.”

“Imagine I’m convinced,” Ren said, tilting Armie’s chin with his tentacle and staring at him “How would you pay?”

“I have pearls, and I have jewelry.”

“Pearls and jewelry,” he huffed a laugh again, “You’ll see how worthless they really are on the surface.”

“Then what do you want?”

“And what do you have?”

“I don’t need your games. Tell me your price and I’d pay you,” said Armitage.

Ren thought for a long time. The stuff around started to rattle. He was angry again.

“Oh? Any price? Tempting,” Ren paused intensely looking at his lips. “I want something from you.”

Armitage thought it was obvious what Ren wanted, and Armitage couldn't believe that he was actually thinking about agreeing. 

”I want your voice,” said Ren.

“Voice?”

“Yes, your voice, prince. Any problems with that?” 

“I don’t understand.”

“Let’s call in a test. Or a game. I can make you a human for three weeks. If your man falls in love for you during this period you can stay human forever and I’ll give you your voice back.”

“What is fall in love?” Armitage said, remembering his chat with Phasma. It was better to check the contract before signing.

“A person, who at that moment cares about you and wants you and generally likes you, must kiss on the lips within the next three weeks. And because I’m a generous octoperson I’ll give you half of the rest of today for free.”

“Or? What will happen if I lose.”

“You become mine.”

“Yours? As a slave?”

“As in, belong to me. As in an unpaid servant, without an ability to leave. On the bright side, I’ll give you your voice back anyway. You gamble only your freedom.”

That was not an easy choice. Armitage liked prince Poe, and it was crucial for Poe to fall in love with him for Armitage’s plan of returning the throne of Arkanis to work. But without the voice, he’d only have his looks.

Then it came to Armitage — he could just write to the prince. Plain and simple, and it was only for three weeks. Then they can talk about how long they like.

Stupid Ren, with his stupid games, Armitage would easily win that bet.

“Make the contract,” Armitage said gravely.

He only finished that and the contract appeared in front of him. He read it, and reread, then searched for the small print — all seemed to be fair. Three weeks, no voice, his freedom at stake.

“If any of the parties decided that it’s enough, they are counted as a loser, and the other party gets it all. Work in one way,” Armitage repeated out loud, “What is that?”

“If you are ready to stop suffering, just admit that you give up. You can use your voice for that and only that,” said Ren blatantly.

Armitage took a writing stick, closed his eyes, and signed it. No way back.

Ren laughed again, but it was short and unhappy. He swam up and took a small vial for the top shelf.

“Take it,” he said.

“That’s it?”

“What did you expect? That I’d brew it in front of your eyes chanting creepy songs? The whole performance with explosions?”

“I expected to have a little magic in it.”

“Abracadabra,” Ren deadpan, “Take it. It’s going to hurt like hell.”

Armitage opened it and inhaled through his mouth. At first, nothing happened. Then he felt a horrible pain in his inner part of the body like he was cut with a thousand fangs, claws, swords, and with raw magic all at the same time. Then it stopped. Only to reappear in his whole body. He would be screaming if he could. And then he changed and there was no more pain.

He had two thin tails and they were strange.

“Go to the surface,” said Ren, gesturing with his tentacles up. His voice was barely audible.

He tried to swim, but his tails weren’t obeying him. He tried to scream, but his throat and chest hurt, and he started panicking.

“Fuck,” he heard Ren's muttered voice.

Everything flowed before his eyes. He couldn’t see clearly, he wasn’t able to breathe.

He felt a surge up. Something tugged him, sleek touches all over him.

He appeared on the surface and inhaled. He was coughing. A lot. His head was spinning. He didn’t remember much.

When he opened his eyes again, he was laying on the sand, and he saw prince Poe.

“He’s alive,” he heard, before falling back to blackness.

**The end of the Book I**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I plan to post chapters once per week, each Monday. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
> 
> If you enjoyed reading it, don't hesitate to like and leave a comment. I love all your comments.
> 
> * * *
> 
> You can find me [tumblr](https://mysticmilks.tumblr.com), [twitter](https://twitter.com/mystic_milks) or [curiousCat](https://curiouscat.me/mystic_milks)
> 
> Many thanks to [@spiteandmalice ](https://twitter.com/spiteandmalice) for beta reading!
> 
> * * *
> 
> Shameless self-promo:  
>  _modern AUs:_  
>  Famous Russian AU, that my friends and I translated [To the Moon and Back](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22380280/)  
> Demon!Hux / hunter!Kylo [Dating a monster](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26703904)  
> Hux/Kylo/Techie, pwp with feelings and bottom!Kylo [You can have it all, but not all at once](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22721863/)  
> Russian train AU [The train on fire](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23477458/)  
> roommates AU, there was only one bed [Up All Night](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18018218/)  
> co-workers on a long business trip, friends to lovers [my face above the water, my feet can't touch the ground](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19928956/)
> 
>  _Canon:_  
>  post-tlj, media AU [you are burned up before you know it](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17705078)
> 
>  _Fantasy AUs:_  
>  Hux is a merman, Kylo is a Sea Warlock [The Little Merman](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24610624/)  
> Arranged marriage, Hux needs to marry a mysterious man and Kylo needs to deliver him there [drop the curtain, blow out the candles](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17462159)
> 
>  _Collection of ficlets_  
>  Ficlets for Kyluxpositivity [In all the worlds, in all the times](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25771663)


	4. Someone from the other world

**Book II: Once upon a time at the magical castle**

The noise. It was waking Armitage up, penetrating his dreams, bringing him back to reality. He reluctantly opened his eyes. The room was filled with unfamiliar repetitive noise. It was like hissing, but higher and sharper, yet not unpleasant. It was even melodic: like music, and in any other situation Armie might have enjoyed it but now the noise was making the dull ache in his head worse.

Then there was light, so much light. The uncovered sun was shining on his face, making him squint and grunt in disagreement. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to figure out what was going on, and understand where he was.

To the repetitive peeps were added murmurs, stomping sounds moving away, and a high-pitched voice, screaming unceremoniously. “Tell His Highness that our foundling woke up! Finally.”

The owner of the voice came closer to Armie, muttering, “What a nonsense. To bring a random fellow into the castle. What if he's a spy? Has His Highness thought about it? Of course not. Or even worse what if that shaggy lad is ill? Who knows what that stranger will bring to the castle.”

The disembodied voice, who sounded like an elderly and unpleasant mermowan nagged a bit more, while Armitage was lying motionless, pretending that he was asleep. After making more noise of shoving things around and loud clicking, the stomping headed away.

Armie gingerly turned his head then, peeked between half-closed eyelids, and saw a tall white wooden double door closing behind that loud merperson. He was left alone.

Armitage looked around and couldn’t believe his own eyes — he had done it. He really was where the people were! The grumpy merperson wasn't a mer at all, but a human woman. He was lying in a human bed in a human room in a human house. And everything around him was peculiar and outlandish.

The first thing that impressed Armitage was how colorful was everything. In his homeworld he was used to green, blue, and grey, only some fish and weeds were bright. Every merperson knew: the closer you got to the surface the brighter everything around was. When Armie had been outside the water, he had noticed the brightness, but his eyes had been hurting and he hadn’t been able to see the world as it readily. Now, with his human eyes, the world bombarded him with a saturation of colors.

The room he was in had white walls with golden tracery. Armie has never seen such pure white in that quantity. The cover on him—it was nicely warm and soft— was blue with a peculiar weed pattern on it. And the tall window was sheltered with some light material with a similar picture and color.

His bed had four sticks peeking from four corners, and they held the roof with the same dark blue material. It looked like Armie could move and be covered from the rest of the world with it. The idea delighted him, and he smirked. The big brown and gold box stayed on the foot of his bed, and a table with purple stool was in front of the wall. Every object that he leaned his eyes on had different hues. It was like being inside a huge coral reef.

Other than colors, it surprised Armie how all the lines were unnatural, all the angles way too right in the wrong way. Everything was unfussy, angular, even the walls were straight as if someone intentionally straighter every curve and convex.

The human dwelling was even better than in his most wild fantasies.

The other peculiar thing was his body. Armitage, obviously, had never experienced transformation before, and he was excited and a bit scared. After he’d drunk the potion in Kylo Ren’s lair he hadn’t time to inspect himself before he started drowning. Now he was curious to explore his new body. 

He’d always felt a pleasant dryness when he emerged from the sea, but now it felt like nothing. The air was neutral against his skin. Armitage reached his hand to his face, and it was pinkish, clawless, and his fingers didn’t have membranes. He touched it with his finger, and it was tender. He licked it. Yes, his suspicion was right. His tongue was still wet, and the damp and warm feeling was as pleasant as the dryness of the air before. He touched his teeth and his fangs were much smaller, almost gone, too.

He couldn't suppress his smile. In the back of his mind, he was expecting the terror to engulf him, but the fear never came.

Excited as a merbaby, he took the cover off and inspected the lower part of his body. He was wearing something thin and white with ornament on it. It was stretching way past his belly and looked like a ceremonial dressing, but much more pleasant to his skin than shells. And down below were his legs.

He had real human legs. He even had small fingers on the end of them. He moved them and the feeling was right, it was as if he always had had these leg-fingers.

His smile grew wider. And then, when he was ready, he grabbed a handful of fabric and he pulled his dressing up revealing his human body.

His belly was soft and delicate. There were no scales anywhere. A handful of bright red hair marked the place where his tails had always started, and then his body split into two parts.

Oh, his dick was fully out — strange, he wasn’t aroused, but it just laid there not planning to hide. Armitage’s smile grew even wider. He touched his reproductive appendage and the sensation was as nice as always, maybe even a bit better, more tender feeling. It was hard to pinpoint exactly what it was now, because of how happy and excited he was.

Propping himself up with his elbows, Armitage sat up. He wanted to see himself in the mirror. He looked around searching for one. There indeed was a thing above the table that looked like it, if Armitage was right guessing in its function.

“You shouldn’t stand up, dear sir,” the strangely familiar voice said behind his back.

Spooked Armie abruptly turned around and saw prince Poe, standing near the door. The sunset light from the opposite window fell on him, illuminating the prince like magic from the trident.

Armitage stared at him, awed by the fact that the prince was even more handsome than Armie remembered him to be. His hair was styled. He looked different than on the ship. He was wearing tight-fit dark-orange clothing, that was covering him from neck to his feet, emphasizing his body. It was like the second skin, fitting on his legs, and the other part was covering his upper body, even his neck was hidden, and decorated with a big white bow that was going to his neck.

They were stuck like that, smiling at each other, like two idiots, for a long moment, before Armie remembered his manners and moved his gaze down. The apparition was ruined. 

“I’m delighted to observe that you are better," exclaimed Poe, coming halfway to Armitage’s bed, stopping there, standing straight, hands behind his back. "I found you unconscious on the shore earlier this day. You were alone, without any dress. I was afraid that you swallowed too much water."

Poe moved closer to the bed, almost touching it with his legs, "I insisted to take you inside, dear sir, so my doctor could take care of you. I was convinced, that someone with untanned and perfect skin and an elegant face as yours must be a nobleman.”

Not given any other option, Armie smiled back and shrugged with one shoulder. That white strange garment slipped from it, and Poe fixed on his shoulder with his eyes, before moving his gaze back to Armie’s face. Armitage must have looked ridiculous, with his hair uncombed, and that stupid dressing on.

“Forgive me my rudeness, dear sir. I’m Poe Dameron, the prince, and the heir of the throne of Yavin. You are in my castle and you are under my protection. You are my guest and welcome to stay here as long as you need to.”

To that, Armie bowed his head, as was custom in Arkanis, and hoping that being shy was the universal marker of gratitude. So far other than an obscene amount of coverage human behavior didn’t look that different from mers.

“I’m talking and talking, conducting myself worse than a market woman. The only excuse for my action is that I’m abashed by your— I’m sorry. I would like to know your name, dear sir.”

Armie opened his mouth but his voice didn’t come out. His smile disappeared. Right, because of that stupid octopus and their stupid deal, he wasn't able to talk. He even forgot about that scam deal. How could he have agreed to that?

Taking hold of his emotions, Armitage looked at Poe, reached his hand to his throat, struggling himself a little, and shaking his head.

"You can't talk?"

Armitage nodded, hoping he didn’t look as terrible as he felt.

“Oh, are you sure?” Prince Poe blabbered and frowned “You must forgive me, dear sir. That was not what I meant. I don’t know what is going on with me these days. My ship recently almost smashed on the rocks, and I saw someone... It doesn't matter, dear sir. I beg your forgiveness for my horrible manners.”

Armitage tried to show that it didn't matter, smiling a bit and shooshing an invisible problem away with his hand. He raised from the bed on his shaking legs, settling his hand on Poe's forearm for stability, and when their eyes met, Armie gestured that he wanted to write.

"Oh, you want to write?"

Armitage nodded again. He would get a writing set, and he would express himself and everything would be fine. And in three weeks tops he’d get his voice back, and live happily ever after.

"I can organize this. No problem," Poe beamed at him and briskly proceeded to the door, whispered something to servants outside, and came back, looking like he conquered the world for Armie and was going to lay the crown in his hands.

“They are going to bring it in a moment," he said, "Would you be so kind as to allow me to ask you questions while we are waiting?

Armitage nodded again, adding a small smile so he didn’t just nod as a doll. He wasn’t sure how Poe was imagining this conversation without writing, but Armie didn't see a reason not to try.

"What has happened to you?" and before Armitage started to come up with gestures for how he might show any of his stories, Poe added, "Did your ship crash?”

Without any better option, Armie nodded and made a sad face. It wasn’t nice to start their relationship from the lie, but telling the truth wasn’t an option. And even if he was completely out of his mind to tell the whole story about mers, his father, arranged marriage and an evil, cheating and malevolent sea warlock, Armitage wouldn't be able to. That wasn’t something that you can tell with gestures.

“Did someone attack your ship?”

Armitage nodded. Why not? Deranged father and a crazy half-octopus half-jerk had attacked him, technically that's the reason he was there. Stupid Ren, he’d almost killed him transforming him underwater with that stupid broken potion. After his victory, Armie would tell Poe everything.

“Were those pirates?”

Armie had no idea who or what pirates were but the excitement in Poe's voice made him nod. Maybe that was a type of storm? Human ships were prone to crash at storms. Or reef, yeah pirates must be the special human word for reefs.

“In my honor, I will avenge for you! I promise that to you. I will destroy the thugs who dared to attack you, dear sir. The ships of Yavin will fight those horrible pirates until our sea becomes the safest sea again! Whatever they did to you, dear sir, they will suffer ten times harder.”

So pirates were some kind of thugs, who attacked ships. That might be valuable information — if they can fight in the ships, then they might be able to fight underwater, and that would solve all Armie's problems. The speech shocked Armitage, but in a pleasant way. He even mentally patted himself on the back, for choosing such a brave person as his future husband.

The knocking interrupted any further questions.

"You may come in," said Poe, and an elderly round lady entered the room.

She was dressed in a deep green dressing that made her look like she had the huge tail coming from her tits. She had an unpleasant face and glanced at Armie like he'd stolen her pearls and bitten her fish.

She bowed to prince Poe and put a metal tray on the small table near Armitage's bed. The tray was with a stack of thin sheets, a tiny bulb with liquid, and a stick with fiber.

"Thank you, Klaudia. You may leave."

After that, she bowed again, glared at Armie, and headed to the door.

Armitage touched the things on the tray. With the thin sheet was easy — it was for writing on, the stick was for writing with, and the bulb was a mystery.

Armitage was excited. That was his first above water riddle. He tried the stick on the sheet but nothing happened. He summoned all the knowledge he had about humans but there was nothing about their writing techniques. He just needed time. It'd be easier to figure out if Poe wasn't looking expectedly at him.

"Let me help you," the prince said, and before Armie could decline, he opened the bulb for him, and even showed how to dip the stick into it. The mystery was solved, but not by him, and now the prince must have thought that Armie wasn’t familiar with writing. He didn’t know the situation here, but in Arkanis only the very poor or untalented weren’t literate.

Writing with those strange things was hard but Armitage gave it a try. The round and curly symbols of the Common Language came out more angular than he’d intended. The sheet was covered with ugly marks and his handwriting was as sloppy as it had been the first time he was learning to write years ago.

_My name is Armitage Hux. I’m from a faraway small country called Arkanis. I’m a Count of Western Lands. It was very nice to meet you. Thank you for saving me, my prince._

He handed the note to Poe. He lied again but admitting that he was a prince would be stupid. There were a few dozen princes in all Ten Great Kingdoms, compared to hundreds of Counts and Dukes. That was simply more believable and would raise fewer suspicions in Poe.

Poe stared at the sheet for what felt like more than a minute.

"I'm sorry. I have not a single idea of what language that is. But you understand me, right?”

Armie agreed with three quick nods.

“Can you write in our language?"

The wave of panic crashed through Armitage's mind. He’d suspected that their languages were different the first time he’d seen Poe, but he thought that if they understood each other there would be no problem with writing. If he couldn't write, how would he communicate with the prince?

Armie shook his head, trying but very much falling not to show his inner desperation.

"Hey, don't be upset, dear sir," said Poe, and added after a pause, "Tomorrow I'll call for our scholars and they'll find someone to translate for you."

Armitage doubted that there was any human who knew their language but made his face express gratitude anyway.

They stayed in silence until Poe said, “I can’t wait and just call you sir until those scholars do their job. That’s ridiculous. Would you allow me to guess your name, dear sir?”

Armitage nodded, biting his lip, feeling utterly miserable, and wanting nothing more than to be alone.

“John?”

Armie shook his head.

“Jacob?”

One more shake.

“Noah?”

They could have done it for hours, and Poe wouldn’t have been able to guess. Even for merpeople Armitage was a rare name, and all the names Poe had said weren’t familiar for him, so it was a safe assumption that humans and mers had completely different sets of names.

"That won't work,” concluded Poe after his sixth or seventh attempt. “How about I'll say a letter, and if it's right you'll nod. Agreed?"

Armitage nodded. Again. As if he had any other option for communication.

They stopped on Armie. Armitage was too long but after minutes of guessing. That actually was fun, and Poe even managed to bring a tiny smile back to him.

He felt a bit, just a bit, better. Poe seemed like a nice person, who, even though he knew nothing about Armitage, was willing to talk with him. They managed that, so maybe, just maybe, they could manage a real communication and maybe Poe would fall in love with him, and Armitage wouldn't lose.

“Armie? I like how it sounds,” Poe smiled. He often smiled, as Armie observed, and it was one handsome smile, “Very nice name. It sounds brave. Armie, we planned to have dinner in an hour. Would you do me the honor and agree to share a meal with me?”

Armitage nodded, with all that stress he forgot that he’d eaten since, oh gods, since last evening before the ceremony. He and his belly thought that it was the right time to test human food. And it was better to be good.

"I will send you a servant, Klaudia, who will show you everything here and will bring you a nice garment for dinner. Rest, dear Armie, and see you in an hour.”

The moment the door was closed after him, Armitage rushed to the wall that he assumed was a bookshelf. He took one and if he could he would scream.

His worst fear confirmed. All symbols looked like lonely angles on thin sheets. He couldn't read their book either. Ren cheated him.

An hour later, Armitage inspected his reflection in the mirror. He looked like a human, even his face changed. It wasn’t unrecognizable, but without fangs, pointy ears, and with pinkier skin color, he looked different, more vulnerable, as the rest of his body.

The servants had come and helped Armitage prepare, so he was ready to conquer Poe’s heart and then spend the rest of his life learning more about humans.

His hair was curled and tied up with a blue bow low on his nape. He liked it that way. It put a nice emphasis on his jawline. His suit wasn't great. It was a light pink short _jacket_ —Klaudia had called it that way— and white tight _pants_. The clothes fettered his movement. Everything was small for him. He suspected that old servant Klaudia had picked them on purpose. The attire threatened to rip on his ass or his back with each movement. But it suited him, decided Armitage after spinning in front of the mirror.

Klaudia had come right after Prince Poe had left. She’d seemed even more angry with Armie’s presence in the castle than she was before. She’d kept muttering mean words under her breath, but loud enough for Armitage to hear, giving him suspicious glances, and even pricked him with a needle, while helping him dress up. Armie had gasped soundlessly, and she frowned at him.

After that, she had given Armitage a lot of information he hadn’t understood about clothes, bedding, and hygiene, and what he had gotten was horrendous. The bathroom part especially. He couldn’t imagine that humans were that gross.

After she left Armie tried to use the lavatory and it was fascinating. He still thought that it all was disgusting, but he couldn’t even imagine that even such basic things as bodily functions would work differently for humans.

Armitage wasn’t able to hold giggles when he was doing it. He felt like a merboy who was laughing about the crudest thing, but today, on this crazy, unbelievable, and unpredictable day it was more than appropriate. On a more serious issue, he noted that humans must like water and used it a lot in their day to day life. That was astonishing. He stood there putting his hands into the washing basin and not able to fully comprehend those new feelings on his skin. All his life water had felt like nothing. It just had been there, but now it was wet, and cold, and pleasant, and fluid.

Exactly ten minutes before the dinner, another servant, a shy adolescent boy, came to Armitage’s door and asked permission to show him the way to the hall. The boy stared at his feet instead of Armie’s, as if he was afraid of him. He was dressed similarly to Armie’s own attire, but it had the exact color as Klaudia’s dress.

Armitage contemplated being offended by Poe and stayed in his room until the prince came to escort him personally, but Armie wasn’t sure what was the protocol in the human world. He had no way to find it out tonight, and he was starving, so he sighed and followed the boy.

Leaving his chambers, Armitage quickly forgot about everything. He was striding through the magnificent corridors. He had never dreamed of seeing anything that beautiful. His chambers had been extraordinary, but compared to the halls it was a hovel. Everything was colored in shiny metals and bright colors. There were carvings and paintings, mosaics, and statues. It felt like being inside the real-life fairy tale.

And the most magnificent was light.

Right after he’d woken up, Armitage had noticed that his eyes had been experiencing the light differently. In the twilight, his vision was much worse than when he’d been a mermaid. Now he saw how humans dealt with it. Instead of glowing fishes and luminescent paint, they were using a strange type of magic. It was similarly looking to the blow of his father's trident, but not destructive, and a lot of people could do without any amulets. Right in front of his eyes, the servants were making an uncountable number of white magic sticks to illuminate every dark corner of the castle.

The servant boy led Armie to the double door and two other servants opened it in front of them. Armitage stepped forward, leaving his guide behind, and saw a huge dining hall that was shining like a sun in the middle of the day with more magic sticks than Armie had seen on his way there.

In front of him was a long table, where the prince was with a dozen men and women. All of them were wearing dresses and suits. They remind Armitage of the coral reef teeming with fish where everyone wants to be the brightest and the most extravagant.

The place on the right hand was empty and, after seeing the prince waving to him, Armitage went there.

“I am pleased to see that you joined us, dear sir,” said Poe, after Armie sat near him “My dear ladies and gentlemen, this is Armie. His ship was attacked by the pirates, it crashed and he is the only survivor. He is my guest and under my protection, I urge all of you to do as much as possible to make Armie’s stay with us pleasant.”

Armitage politely smiled to everyone and made a small bow with his head, while Poe was introducing them. Being a prince himself, Armie wasn’t accustomed to acting humbly but he tried his best — there was no need to be even more suspicious than he already was.

Poe announced dukes and counts, sirs and ladies, and to all of them he added my dear friend or my oldest friend. _My dear friend Vannesa. My closest friend John. My darling Rose._

Their names almost immediately disappeared from Armie’s head, and even if he could talk he wouldn’t be able to name all of them. What Armitage did notice was that Poe hadn’t introduced his parents or any other family member other than a petite lady Rose Tico, about whom Poe said that she was like a sister to him. If the Royal pair was alive they weren’t there. That was a mental food for thought for Armie, and he needed to find a way to learn more about the king, the queen, and their whereabouts.

Shortly after the servants brought meals, and the smell was amazing. Armie looked around and noticed that people were using strange metal appliances for eating. Every person had two in each hand. One that looked like a small sword he’d found around two weeks ago, and the second one like a small trident.

Instead of claws and fangs, people used them to deal with their food. _That doesn’t seem hard_ , decided Armitage, _I can do that_. He turned his head to his own plate and found six different tridents, five swords, and three things that looked like a farming tool for moving sand.

He squinted at Poe and caught him looking back, cocking his head with curiosity.

“It's complicated, isn’t it?” Poe said “I should be frank with you. It's partially my fault. My kin likes to complicate things. My grandfather added two more forks and my mother added a small dessert spoon. Guess, I’m obliged to add at least one more knife someday.”

Armitage huffed. It was familiar. Wherever you go royals would like silly rules.

“Let me help you,” Poe said, grabbing one of his tridents, “that's a fork for the main dish. Hold it like that. And then take this knife.”

Armitage gingerly brought the fork with a brown substance that looked like fish to his lips. Poe said it was _their famous boeuf bourguignon_ , whatever that must mean. Armie braced himself for a rancid taste and faking his delight. Instead, he felt a rupture of delight. The taste was richer and brighter than anything he 'd eaten before. It was like music in his mouth. No, it was like a small climax in his mouth, with a subtle prickly afterglow on his tongue.

“Do you like it, Armie?” Poe whispered, leaning closer to Armitage's ear.

Armie indicated more emotionally than was needed that yes, he'd enjoyed it a lot. 

The prince laughed, "I hoped you would. The chef wanted to surprise you with his special seafood bouillabaisse, but I thought, nah, poor Armie, spent who knows how much time striking about in the water. Armie needs real meat to restore his strength."

At the beginning of the evening, Armitage had been afraid of the lack of communication between him and his future husband. But as courses changed, he saw that it didn't seem to be an issue for Poe.

The prince joked a lot. Not all of his jokes Armie understood, but he’d laughed in the right places.

One of the fun discoveries of that evening was the purpose of the metal hollow cylinder he'd found in the wreckage weeks ago. It was a _glass_ , and humans drank from them. That was a completely new concept for him.

When the dinner was over and Armitage got back to his new bed, he felt confused. The human world was full of wonders to explore, but he only had three weeks for that most of which he had to spend chasing a man. Was it even possible to fall for someone for real in three weeks?

Poe had flirted with him. If him touching Amie's hand might have been a polite way of helping him with forks and knives, then fixing the stand of loose hair had been as clear as day. As the servants brought desserts, Armitage's mood had been elated, only to be dropped at the way down when he watched how Poe had helped a young lady to his left by cleaning her cheek. 

Only then it’d occurred to Armie that the prince could be acting like that with everyone. It was possible that it was a human thing to do, and humans might be behaving that way without any additional meaning. Only strawberries with ice cream had saved him from calling it a complete failure. That small cup with white foam and red droplets was a strong contestant for Armitage's favorite thing in the world.

How did Ren state it? Genuine warm feeling and care?

Armitage silenced the doubts in his head. It had no purpose, he didn't have any other way, not after his deal with the Warlock.

* * *

The next day after breakfast in the garden, Poe suggested to Armitage show him the castle and its surroundings. Armie, hiding the smile in his cup of the divine substance called cocoa, nodded after a pause. He’d created an elaborate plan to trick Poe into giving him an excursion, but that way it was even better. Let Poe have initiative, Armie reckoned, when it’s all over, we both are going to laugh about it.

In the morning light, the castle was strikingly different from what Armie had seen yesterday. Not better or worse, still as magical and glittering. It was bursting with life, servants were running around, noblemen and ladies peacefully strolling. Everyone stopped when they saw Poe to either give him a bow or, in case the person wore a dress, they did a strange movement by bending the knees with one foot in front of the other.

The most fascinating for Armie were stairs. Yeaster he’d found out that humans needed them to move up and down between different levels of the castle. It was crazy for Armie, that he was limited in his movement, and he could only move in one dimension. Constantly he tried to go up when he wanted to inspect what was on the ceiling but he'd only been able to float for a mere moment and it wasn't higher than a few feet. He needed to control himself not to present himself in a crazy way.

They spent what felt like hours exploring different parts of the castle when Poe was showering Armitage the grand staircase, a majestic structure covered in gold, decorations, and ornament. The prince continued explaining about famous architects and artists that renovated the castle before Poe had even been born. That wasn't interesting, but Armie listened attentively anyway. They stopped in front of a big full-length painting of a strikingly beautiful young woman with curly dark hair in a dark violet dress with a fan in her hand.

"That—" Poe said, strangely and uncharacteristically, seriously, "That was my sister Sophie. I loved her dearly. We all did. That portrait was made for her seventeenth birthday. She died three months later from the illness. It was a smallpox epidemic. Nothing could be done."

Armie touched his forearm. He was never good at comforting people, and without words, it didn't get easier.

"Thank you," muttered Poe, "It was a long time ago. I didn't even remember her very well. Only some fragments. As we were playing together. Or how kind she was. I was just a kid when she died. She was supposed to be our Queen, supposed to unite nations and rule in peace. Well, fate chose it differently — she hadn't even lived to her wedding."

The prince made a wretched smile and pointed to the painting of an opulently dressed dark-haired man and woman. It wasn’t hard to guess who they were. The resemblance between them and Poe was striking.

"And there are my parents — Queen Shara and King Consort Kes. It was made for their fifth wedding anniversary. I'd love you to meet them when they are back in Yavin."

Armie looked questioningly at Poe trying to express his interest. He waved his hand pointing to the portrait, then waved them around.

"You want to know where they are?" Poe asked and, after Armie's affirmative nod, answered "They are traveling to our neighboring countries gathering the support for the upcoming war. The Crimson Empire on our eastern border is restless. We think they are preparing to attack us again. My parents are planning to return at the end of the month, but I haven't got any news from them in a while. But I don't want to bore you with our troubles, my dear friend."

Armitage wanted to protest, but Poe guided him to another picture with naked men on the cross and started to talk about religious symbolism. _It might be a good thing that the king and queen aren't here_ , Armie thought. He didn't know any royal parents who'd be happy that their heir was mingling around with a mute boy.

During the following days, Armitage had explored the whole castle, the garden, rosarium, beautiful fountains, and defensive walls with a view on the city and harbor. The only places where he wasn't permitted to visit but really wanted to go were the armory and Poe's council.

"Outsiders are not allowed," said a guard at the entrance to the arsenal, "That's not a place for promenades."

That was his third attempt to go there for the last week. Being the prince himself, he was not used to such harsh tones. In Arkanis guards would be never allowed to talk that way with him. Maybe he hadn’t been Brendol’s favorite child, but at least, everyone was afraid of Brendol, so they had to be nice with little prince Armie.

But in this castle, each time Armitage hoped that his serious face and detached look would grant him access, each time the guards were getting ruder.

"What is going on here," Armie heard behind his back. Turning around he saw one of the court ladies, dressed in a man working outfit. Rose, like a flower, Armitage reminded himself, the one that was like a sister for the prince. She looked different from the other people in the castle. She was shorter, her face was round and eyes narrow. Armitage assumed that she must have been from another land. 

"Nothing, Lady Tico. The prince guest wants to go there, but I explain to him that there was nothing to see there, and he needed permission for it anyway, m'lady."

"Hm. You are right, Sam, thank you for your service," she turned to Armitage studying his face, "Armie, that is an armory, there is nothing there but our weapons. I can't say for sure about your country, but we don't show it to our guests."

 _Great, now she is suspecting me of something,_ Armitage thought. To draw her attention away, he smiled. He hoped it was a nice innocent smile. To distract her attention, he gestured to her outfit and raised his eyebrows.

"These?" she looked at herself as if she forgot what she was wearing, "I'm helping in the forge today if you want I can show you there."

Armitage enthusiastically nodded and Lady Rose took him with her, pleased with his interest. 

On their way to the forge, and during their visit, she told Armitage about her life, but not much. He liked that too. Poe could be a bit too talkative for Armie’s taste sometimes. In the course of their conversation, he found out that her title wasn't real. She was no lady, but a daughter of common merchants who’d come to Yavin from the lands far away — somehow for humans it was important. It was confusing for Armie, his friend Phasma also was from the family of merchants and they were one of the most respected people in Arkanis.

Rose’s parents had died during the previous war with the Empire. The Queen had found Rose and her sister Paige in the ruins after the battle. They were close in age to the prince, and the Queen and the King, suffering the horrible loss of their beloved daughter, decided to take sisters with them, and raised them in the castle. Paige was with them on their trip abroad. She was in the army and served as the Royal guard.

They came to the small building in the servants' part of the inner court. It was hot inside but Armitage didn’t care about it. He found it — the source of human magic. In the bright red pit, people were making metal forms right in front of his eyes.

“You like it, huh?” Rose laughed, studying Armitage’s face.

He nodded. It was above all of his craziest expectations.

“You can’t be there without me, but if you want I can teach you about it.”

The first urge was to hug her and cry. That’d solve all his troubles if only he’d known that he hadn’t needed prince Poe, and hadn’t agreed to the kiss condition.

It was getting late, and it was time to prepare for dinner when they sat in the quiet gazebo in the garden and talked. She talked, and Armitage gestured, but she got what Armie wanted. For the first time in days, Armitage didn’t feel like he was crippled and defective. She just let him take his time and explain everything with gestures, without interrupting him or dismissing him. 

Parting, she promised to help Armitage with reading and writing because she was also taught literacy when she wasn’t a little child.

Armie needed to get to his room before the dinner — apparently, it wasn’t acceptable to come in the same clothes he was wearing during the day. In moments like that he didn’t understand humans at all. He was struggling to find the right hall when, after another turn, he almost collided with prince Poe.

"Such a lucky meeting. Where have you been, dear friend? I haven’t seen you for the whole day and started to worry about you. Come with me," said Poe, tugging him in the opposite direction. “I want to show something to you, Armie.”

Armitage attempted to explain that he was tired, and honestly very hungry, so all he really wanted right now was to change into the evening attire and eat. Poe seemingly didn't understand his gesturing, and frankly, didn’t care much about them.

"It’ll be quick. It's just around the corner," explained Poe, "Here we are."

He opened the glass doors and led Armitage to the small balcony with the view on the haven.

"This is one of my favorite places in the castle. It's majestic during the sunset."

He was right. It was majestic, but the pink of the sun reminded Armitage about strawberries making his stomach rumble.

"I wrote a poem for you. Do you want to hear it, dear Armie?"

Even if Armitage had a voice, he wouldn't be able to say no to that. Poems were nice, not as nice as fried flounder with carrots and potato, but still nice. _And_ , _I should be courting the prince if I want to stay human_ , Armitage reminded himself over the rambling in his stomach. 

"Your hair like fire,

It ignites desire,

Believe me when I say,

I want you to stay," started the prince.

There were ten more couplets. Ten was a way too high number for the poem where Poe rhymed love with blood, sorrow with tomorrow, and eyes with pies—that one was actually good, Armie would love to eat pies in that moment. He stopped listening and had to pretend he was awestruck when he didn't react when that great poem ended.

"Armie, maybe I—" the prince said, making a step closer, and leaning to him, and Armie instinctively made a step.

“Is there something wrong, my dear?” Poe asked, his beautiful eyes open widely.

Armitage, feeling like a complete idiot, pat himself on his stomach, showing that he was starving.

"Oh, darling,” Poe chuckled, “your honesty and confidence strikes me. There are so many people here, who pretend that they don't eat, but you always eat as if that’s your first time. Is the food in Arkanis that bad?" he said.

Armie shrugged and frowned, showing that he was not in the mood for idle talk.

"Let's feed you until you bite me."

 _I can_ , though Armie, heading to his room irritated. He didn’t understand what was wrong with him and why he was pushing away his only chance to win the deal with Ren.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I plan to post chapters once per week, each Monday. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
> 
> If you like it don't hesitate to like and leave a comment. I love your comments.
> 
> * * *
> 
> You can find me [tumblr](https://mysticmilks.tumblr.com), [twitter](https://twitter.com/mystic_milks) or [curiousCat](https://curiouscat.me/mystic_milks)
> 
> Many thanks to [@spiteandmalice ](https://twitter.com/spiteandmalice) for beta reading!
> 
> * * *
> 
> Shameless self-promo:  
>  _modern AUs:_  
>  Famous Russian AU, that my friends and I translated [To the Moon and Back](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22380280/)  
> Demon!Hux / hunter!Kylo [Dating a monster](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26703904)  
> Hux/Kylo/Techie, pwp with feelings and bottom!Kylo [You can have it all, but not all at once](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22721863/)  
> Russian train AU [The train on fire](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23477458/)  
> roommates AU, there was only one bed [Up All Night](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18018218/)  
> co-workers on a long business trip, friends to lovers [my face above the water, my feet can't touch the ground](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19928956/)
> 
>  _Canon:_  
>  post-tlj, media AU [you are burned up before you know it](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17705078)
> 
>  _Fantasy AUs:_  
>  Hux is a merman, Kylo is a Sea Warlock [The Little Merman](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24610624/)  
> Arranged marriage, Hux needs to marry a mysterious man and Kylo needs to deliver him there [drop the curtain, blow out the candles](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17462159)
> 
>  _Collection of ficlets_  
>  Ficlets for Kyluxpositivity [In all the worlds, in all the times](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25771663)


	5. Someone from the dream

_Surface journey note 1_

_I am Armitage from the house of Hux, the son of Brendol the Fierce, and the heir of the Arkasian throne, or I was one before I left my country searching for the ways to say my beloved country. This is a journal of my expedition and exploration of the Above water world._

_If my mission doesn’t go well this journal will be the only evidence of my research. I doubt that my findings will be transferred to my people, due to the lack of structural water-resistance of human writing sheets that they call paper. There is a slim chance that some other brave merperson will find it and it will help them in their own journey._

_Nevertheless, I ought to document everything or I will lose my sanity in my silence and my regrettable and unacceptable boredom._

_As writing these words, I spent one week in the human castle and yet haven’t left its walls. Without my voice, it is close to impossible to explain that I want to see the rest of the country, and, if I leave all by myself, which I’m not completely sure is possible, I’m even less sure that I’ll be allowed to enter again. The servants around the castle are not fond of me, and I imagine that they would prefer for me to disappear._

_While I’m stuck in the castle, I’m trying to do best with what little time I have. I’m committed to learning human skills. I’ve started practicing reading and writing with a nice human woman Rose. It goes well and she says I’m a fast learner. My current theory is that I’m able to understand them with the help of mind transferring ability. I guess with speaking I get the raw meaning, while with written words it doesn't work. Learning to read is not very hard but it takes time. And time is a scarce resource in my position._

_Two days ago prince Poe taught me to ride horses (big scary animals, inedible - img 1). It was surprisingly fun and helpful to understand their quaint world. These horses can’t be used underwater, but I see the ocean of opportunities for them here: transportation, labor, farming, etc. I need to check if humans know about all of their potentials._

_Another highlight of my trip is food. Humans use high temperatures for their meals. I suppose because they don’t have fangs and claws they need for their food to be tender. I imagine that eating their main food source, meat, raw won’t be an easy task with their tiny teeth. I need to add that often humans eat not because they are hungry but because they can, and their food is the additional source of entertainment for them. I tried their sweets—special high energy food—and it was fantastic, I felt happy and awake. In addition to their useful properties, sweets are delicious._

_I’m still exploring my new body. My cloaca works differently than I expected and I have no one to ask questions about it. I feel like a merchild, or even worse._

_E.g. I have no idea how sex between humans works, but I have a few ideas. I also suspect that they have different ideas of gender than we do, but I have no opportunity to find that out without a voice because humans cover themselves completely with clothes. I suspect they are ashamed of their bodies but it’s ridiculous. My wedding night would be more strange than I have ever expected and I hope that prince Poe knows how it all works._

The strumming sound of joyful music was filling the small inner garden. Two musicians were playing guitar while the prince's entourage was dancing and singing. Poe was swinging Armitage around, showing him a complicated dance that included a lot of stomping and clapping. They needed to move quickly, changing position, simultaneously adding their claps in unison with the music. Armie’s legs and arms were hurting, his head was spinning, and cheeks flushed with embarrassment. He was aware that he was the worst dancer among them.

He wished to be far away from there.

Less than two hours ago, Armitage had been sitting in the library battling the book with historical novels. Lady Rose had proposed to him some old volume about the working of the State. Armie had wanted to read about engineering, but she’d said it had been too complicated for his current reading level. They’d found a middle ground with Tales of Yavin and its neighbors — the collection of short stories on the kingdom’s history.

It’d been an interesting story and complex reading, so Armitage had been fully engulfed into it, his face buried into the book, and hadn’t noticed Poe, until the moment he’d felt him sit on the nearby chair. The prince had wanted him to go to their monthly folk dance night. He’d stated that the dancing would have been enchanting. He hadn’t taken Armitage shaking his head and protesting gesturing for an answer, and Armie allowed himself to be dragged away from his books.

Now very exasperated Armitage was in the garden lit by the moonlight, romantic music around them, and with handsome prince’s hands on his lower back. Yet it felt like a waste of Armie’s precious time. It was the third dance event during his short visit to the human world.

When the music stopped, Armie bowed to the prince and left to get a glass of strong red wine. The spirituous drink burned his throat, but it gave a pleasant warmth inside him. He needed it now. He couldn't get rid of the feeling that although Poe was nice looking, funny, and smart, there was no real connection between them. And with each day that suspicion grew stronger.

The rest of the night Armitage sat on the far end of the garden, overthinking his options. Prince Poe was all smiles. He liked dancing, riding horses, and talking, mostly about himself. He liked gardens and long walks, his friends, and loud gatherings — and it was fine. The court loved him, and he had a face as if it came from one of the heroic paintings in the Grand Stairs. Neither of those was particularly interesting for Armitage. He could marry a man for political reasons, but ‘true love’ in his contract made things more complicated, and whatever he felt initially toward Poe, didn’t seem like love now.

_Surface journey note 3_

_Day 9_

_Personal note:_

_I never expected such juvenile emotions for myself but I feel upset. I suffer without communication. No, I don’t miss idle chats about the weather or the latest rumors, but I’d be nice to just tell people what I want, or share my thoughts._

_I’m not used to servants or merpeople ignoring me or pretending that they don’t see me. Here this happens constantly. I feel more like a child than an actual person. Prince's entourage treated me like a new toy for the first couple of days but they were bored quickly. I can’t blame them, my pantomime skills aren’t great._

_They talk about me when the prince is not around and I can hear them, but can’t say anything. They aren’t malicious, but very dismissive of me. Some of them, like the servant woman Klaudia, even call me “prince’s pet”. I want to scream: “I’m mute, not dumb!” But I can’t. I can’t even frown at them, or do something about them. If it comes to confrontation it’d be their words against my silence._

_The Prince talks with me, and he’s nice, but I can't answer, and when someone else joins Poe seems to forget about me. He’s very windy—that’s how humans call someone unpredictable and unserious. I wonder how I'm supposed to fall in love with such a man._

_I also found myself longing for Lady Rae and Phasma, I wonder if they worry about me. I should have told them about my plans before leaving. I hope they are fine and my father didn’t direct his anger on them._

_Lady Rose is nice but she’s often busy. She is the only person that I respect among humans. She reminds me of Phasma, but smaller and less mean. I’m afraid she might suspect something about me. Today she’d shown me a map trying to male me admit where I’d come from. I pointed to a random island far away. She didn’t seem to believe me but didn’t push it. I don’t want to lose my only ally here._

_All these thoughts lead me to a fascinating discovery: when humans are upset their eyes become wet. It’s called crying. I didn’t find a purpose for that but it’s interesting._

_With Rose I discovered the process of making swords - they use heat, and it makes metal soft, they forge it, and then when it’s cool again it becomes firm (img 3). I wanted to try it myself but everyone was afraid that I might hurt myself._

_She showed me firearms, like guns and canons. It’s very interesting magic — it works like magic tridents and other magic staffs that can kill with impulse but it has fire inside. I start to suspect that fire is the key to human appliances. They use it everywhere from candles to canons. But water destroys it._

_Overall the human world is full of wonders, and even if all of this goes south I didn't regret my decision to see it._

_Maybe just a little. I can’t stop thinking of what would happen with Arkanis if I lose the bet with Kylo. If Brendol started the war with a weak alliance or without an alliance at all it’d be a disaster. I hope Lady Rae will stop him if it comes to this. If I could forget about the war and search for weapons, I’d be enjoying being a human much more._

A broad, short cook crudely cursed, when a boy scullion dropped the bowl full of sour cream. White splashes covered the floor, tables, nearby walls, both the cook and the boy.

“I’ll order to flog you, you little—,” the cook roared, while the scullion was trying to hide behind the whisk.

The cook’s eyes met with Armie’s. He stopped mid-phase and scowled. He cursed one more time, a bit quieter, commended the boy to clean the mess, and turned away to a stove, where the fire was dancing under a huge pan.

Other kitchen servants were rushing about, each with their own task, giving Armitage bewildered glimpses but forgetting about him a moment later.

Armitage had found a kitchen when he was wandering around the castle, killing the time between lunch and his reading lesson with Rose Tico. He had been walking in the far gallery on the first floor, where he had never been before when he discovered the delicious smell. He’d followed the scent like he did so many times before in normal life during hunting. His human nose had been working worse, yet he had been able to find the source. Today instead of leading him to fat salmon, his senses had led him to that magical place called the kitchen.

Staying there, smiling like a complete idiot, and ignoring glances and irritated whispers of the servants, Armitage thought that the brave discoverers of the past must have felt the same. In a way, he was a pioneer. The first merman who entered the kingdom of half-musical two-tailed creatures. The first sea creature who came to the kitchen to eat, not to be eaten.

He was luckier than all of the scientists before him because instead of discovering some useless ruins, or the new volcano, Armitage had found a cinnamon smelling wonder. The cooks were in the middle of preparing dessert for tonight's dinner, and, among sweets that Armie had already tasted like chocolate candies and almond cookies, they just finished baking Natas, a puff pastry filled with custard cream. If paradise had a smell it must be it. Armitage was observing cooks and waiting for a chance. He wasn’t intending to leave without sneaking one.

In the meantime, Armie noticed the pod covered in the leftover cream and contemplated a plan of licking it. He couldn’t suppress a smile. He was staying there for—what?—ten-fifteen minutes and the first attempt on planning something was regarding custard. For all that time he hadn’t thought about military use, or any practical purpose, even once. He simply enjoyed watching humans and hoped that he could try to cook something one day.

“Good day to all of you,” said Poe after appearing in the door. 

And, like after using a magic spell, all the purposeful chaos halted, everyone stopped and shut up, turned to the prince bowing and making curtsy. Even pots and pans seemed to become quieter.

“Don’t pay any attention to me, dear friends,” the prince said, “I was just looking for my missing guest, and the rumor had it that you gave our dear Armie a shelter.”

While Armitage was thinking why the prince was searching for him, and if he was in trouble for wandering to the kitchen, Poe smirked, approaching him. He came to the corner, where Armie was staying, and leaned to the wall near him.

“I was searching for you everywhere. I started to think that you disappeared like a beautiful dream on a summer afternoon,” he whispered conspiratorially, comically imitating sadness.

Armie turned his gaze to Poe and tried to describe his fascination with his hand and facial expression. He waved around, pointing here and there, where cooks continued preparing sweets. Poe’s smile grew wider.

“Is that your first time in the kitchen, dear?”

Armitage nodded. It wasn't the full truth. He had been in the kitchen in his own castle. It wasn’t the same. Merpeople weren’t animals, and prefer to eat their food seasoned with seaweed, mixed, cut. It wasn’t bad, but it couldn’t be compared to a human's cousin. Arkanis only had one cook, and the kitchen was just another room with fish in cages.

“Your parents must be more strict than mine. My mother didn’t approve of it, but I sneaked here when I was little to steal a cookie or ten. We used to do it with my sister Sophia when I was little, and then with Rose and Paige. The old cook pretended to be angry, but he gave us cookies all the time.”

Poe’s face was dreamy, and he looked both more handsome, and more approachable than usual.

“You know, dear Armie, I find common working people are very interesting. We nobles live in our castles and know very little about the common people. But we depend on them as much as they depend on us.”

Armitage wasn’t sure about that. From his experience, common merpeople would live perfectly well without his father's wars or all the taxes. And, based on Klaudia and some other maids, not all human servants loved all noblemen. Armitage nodded anyway.

”Once, a few years ago, I spent the whole day walking around the city in disguise. I took one of my servant’s modest outfits and went there. No one knew who I was. I found out fascinating things. People have numerous jobs that they do every day. I was walking through poor streets, just walking. I talked with them and sang for them, then we shared a humble dinner in a tavern.”

Armitage showed that he was impressed. He had gone to the city of Arkanis often enough to know how regular mermen and women lived, but that was another part of human lives that were different from Arkanis. People here had a strict hierarchy. If you were born a peasant that was all you could do in life, and almost nothing could change it.

“What are your plans for today?” asked Poe, after a short pause.

Armie showed that he was going for his reading lesson. Then it hit him that he’d lost track of time, and Rose must have been waiting for him, which he started to explain to the prince.

“May I accompany you to the library, dear Armie?” asked Poe, when Armitage gestured that yes, he may, but they must hurry.

It didn’t stop Armitage from dashing to the table and grabbing a Nata pastry. No one would say no to him when the prince was around.

“Oh, no, my dear,” said Poe lightly, swapping his hand, and taking the pastry from it. Only his shock stopped Armie from biting the prince. You do not take food from a merman, everyone knew that. His human teeth might be small, but that didn’t mean that anyone, even the prince himself, can take booty from his hands.

“No sweets before dinner. You will spoil your appetite, as my dear sister used to say when I was a boy,” he explained.

Armitage took a long inhale and faked a shy smile. He made a mental note to say what he thought about it when he got his voice back. It was added to the very long list of things that they should discuss with Poe.

On their way to the library, Poe went into a monologue about himself, and about his last hunting trip. _Blah-blah-blah horses. Blah-blah-blah ducks_. It reminded Armitage of his father's stories and he zoned out.

“And do you have siblings?” Poe finally asked, and Armitage understood that they were near the portrait of princess Sophie.

Armie shook his head. No, he gestured and then showed two fingers, crossed them, and moved his hands explaining that they were long gone.

“I’m so sorry for your loss. It is a tragedy,” Poe said, “What can be worse than losing your family members? But we had that tragedy in common. It did influence me a lot. I wasn’t supposed to rule, and it wasn’t easy for me—”

Armitage stopped listening again, quickening his pace on the stairs.

When they entered the library, Rose was already sitting in front of the stack of the books, waiting for Armitage. Seeing them, she showed with all her appearance that if Armie didn’t want to be there, she had better things to do with her time.

“Let me express my gratitude to you dear Rose for helping Armie. That's a very noble thing to do,” Poe said.

“It is not a big deal. If he wants to come,” she said, clearly unhappy.

Armitage showed that he was sorry, and was grateful too. He sat on the chair and looked at the books in front of her. He was pleasantly surprised that one of them contained engineering drawings.

Poe, who did seem to leave, saw the book too and snatched it from Amie’s hands. The second time in less than half an hour – what a nasty habit.

“These aren’t the right books for Armie. They are boring. Rose dear, you shouldn’t show him boring things that only you like. You will butcher his will to learn.” Poe went to the shelves, the book still in his hands. He rambled there, while Rose and Armitage looked at him, periodically exchanging glances.

“Here - _Collection of fairy tales_. This one is much better. It was my favorite when I learned to read.” He put a large book with a lot of colorful pictures in front of them. “I always say that learning should be pleasant. Maybe I should give you a lesson sometime, dear Armie?”

Armitage shrugged, unsured. He already had Rose, and she was great.

“How about tomorrow?” Then his face changed and he gave the most charming smile, and before Armitage managed to come up with an answer Poe exclaimed “Armie, I remembered about that tavern and thought to show you our city and nearby villages. What do you think? Tomorrow? Only you and me?”

Armitage beamed with all honesty. _Yes, he would love that._

* * *

It was the tenth day of Armitage’s mission. The day marked the half of time they’d agreed with Ren. And the day was lovely. Armie rarely used that word but it was fitting. He was full of energy and well-rested. The weather was sunny but not too hot. The prince looked nice in his modest grey clothed, similar to what Armie was wearing.

Early in the morning, even before breakfast as they agreed the day before, Poe was waiting for him near the horse-drawn carriage in the courtyard. The carriage was also modest. Armitage didn’t see a lot of carriages but this one didn’t have gold patterns and fancy materials — just the regular blue painted wood and no roof. They wanted to explore the city and its surroundings without drawing extra attention to them.

 _I want them to behave naturally_ , Poe had said the day before when he was explaining the adventure to him.

Armitage hadn’t known how the prince had organized all that in one day, but he appreciated the efforts. Maybe he was to harsh to Poe. The prince cared about him and expressed his interest, but all Armie did was pushing Poe away.

The whole day was thoughtfully planned. At first, they’d made a quick stop at the picturesque square with tall trees and a small church. Armie was ready to act grumpy when Poe pulled the basket with sandwiches from the carriage. There was a quick meal while Poe was explaining the architectural styles to him. Armitage made an effort and actually listened to him. Not the most interesting topic but fresh buns with Jamón meat improved his mood and tomatoes.

On their way to the village, Poe taught him how to drive a carriage. Armitage wasn’t a very good student, yet Poe had never said anything other than playful encouragements and light chuckles. Eventually, he’d taken Armitage’s hands in his own and showed him what he’d been doing wrong, while his thumb was brushing Armie’s wrist. That was lovely. Just lovely.

In the village, they’d gone to the market. There Armitage had had to admit to himself that if he did fall in love, that was with human food. If he’d a spare life, he’d spend it traveling around their world and tasting everything. Even in the luckiest version of his future, there was no place for such useless hobbies.

Walking between stalls, and listening to Poe’s description and his old memories, Armitage smelled the divine aroma. He moved there but Poe had stopped him, intercepting his shoulder and explaining that chorizo—meat with spices as Armitage had guessed—was too hot for him. 

And you don’t want your breath to smell of garlic, don’t you dear? Poe told him.

Armitage wanted to argue but ten days of silence had taught him not to even try. And it wasn’t wise to protest when you didn’t know the human culture. They ate empanadas and it’d delicious too. Belatedly Armitage wondered if King Pryde would care of what he was eating and reading.

After leaving the market they interacted with merchants and peasants. A lot of the people seemed to recognize Poe, or at least get that Poe was someone important. It wasn’t that hard, decided Armie. Human peasants with their tanned skin and bad teeth generally looked worse than human nobles. No wonder Poe had been so sure about Armie.

Everyone was way too friendly, and way too happy while talking to Poe. Armitage had never experienced that in his home. Merpeople had liked to listen to Brendol, but no more than that. Armie himself never felt the urge to chat with peasants.

It was nice for a change, but Armie quickly got tired of them, and their attention, while Poe talked to them, and told them some stories, and asked them questions, completely ignoring Armitage.

They walked together along the bay, and when they were alone, covered from the world in the shade of willow trees, Armitage, for the first time since they were alone on the balcony, got really nervous that Poe might want to kiss him. It was illogical. Crazy thought. He had the notion to run away.

Lovely. The day was lovely. Poe tried his best to impress him. Yet with each second of it, Armitage started to suspect that Poe simply wasn’t his type.

Armitage should have craved that kiss, but he hadn’t. He wanted to go back to his room, to be left alone, to write in his journal, read some books, even though it’d mean losing the deal to the Sea Warlock. With even more surprise Armie realized that the perspective of seeing Ren’s smug smile didn’t bother him that much.

That wasn’t something Armitage was ready to contemplate today. He was tired. He yanked Poe’s sleeve to ask him to go back to the castle.

“Yes, darling,” whispered Poe turning his head to him and looking in his eyes.

Amie waved in the direction of the castle.

“One more thing,” said Poe “I prepared a little surprise for you. There.”

Armitage looked there Poe was pointing and to his dread, he saw a boat.

“It’s nothing to be afraid of, my dear Armie,” said Poe, smiling as if he was the only one to know the secret, “The water is shallow here.”

Armitage stared at him, not sure how politely to express that he was not interested. Shallow water or not.

“Armie, I’ll be with you. I promise I’ll protect you from all the sea monsters,” Poe encouraged him again.

Armie doubted that statement. It might have been an interesting fight between brave and naive prince Poe and Kylo Ren. Interesting but not long.

“What are you afraid of, darling?” Poe asked seductively, hugging Armie’s waist with one arm.

 _Hm_ , he thought, _on top of my head, I’d say drowning, because that what recently happened to me, you handsome jellyfish_.

He couldn't say that so he smiled lightly. It was tiring to argue with Poe. He ignored even the people who could talk if he was settled to do something. Mute Armie had zero chances against him. He nodded unenthusiastically and stepped into the boat, guided by Poe’s warm hand.

The water really was shallow and clean. Armitage could easily see tiny rocks on the bottom. The sun was setting down, painting the water with pink and orange. Small fish were swimming around the boat. Armie dipped his fingers and they got closer. He huffed. Fish had been afraid of him before, as he’d been its natural predator, but now they touched his fingers as if they wanted to eat him.

From that small lagoon, the castle was visible on the cliff. Its white walls now were in sunset colors. It was a beautiful view. 

Poe started to sing, his voice low and sensual. The song was about the wife of the fisherman who was waiting for him. The lovely day merged into a romantic evening. And who knows what the night was going to bring.

In that perfect moment, Armitage thought about Kylo Ren again. He didn’t know what triggered that thought. Maybe that dark shadow that reminded one of his tentacles, maybe Poe’s haphazardly thrown line about sea monsters, or the strange feeling of light pressure that Armie often got near Ren? It didn’t really matter, the fact was that Sea Warlock occupied Armie’s head and didn’t want to leave.

It was more than half of their agreed timeframe, and it was as good a time as any other to ask — what does Ren want to do with him if Armitage loses?

Ren was powerful, emotional, even unstable, yet Armie had never been afraid of him. Not really. He wasn’t sure why, but his energy didn’t feel threatening. Snoke had been dangerous, Armitage had been viscerally terrified by him, but Ren has never provoked anything like that. If Ren wasn’t going to hurt him, then what did he want? The Sea Warlock must know that he wouldn't be able to use prince Armie to leverage the King. If Phasma was right, and she rarely was wrong, Ren had an eye for him. Thinking about being with Ren was strange, not because he was an octoman, but because… because what, Armitage wasn’t able to answer.

The other mystery that bothered him was that Ren preferred to live in the icky cave when he was able to transform into a human. Their world was so much more interesting.

“Armie?” called him Poe, distracting him from the thoughts of Kylo Ren.

Armitage looked at him. Dark locks. Deep brown eyes. The perfect face, that any sane person must want to kiss. Poe was handsome, nice, and he was a prince. Potentially, he could help Armie find a way to stop the war, and bring peace and prosperity to Arkanis. If Armie married him, he'd have time to explore human magic, and they'd rule the land and the ocean one day. Together they could join their realms, rule the land and the sea, crush their enemies and bring order. That was what Armitage always wanted, right?

Two mighty kings, making love on the huge throne as Armitage's vision promised him. It was Hux’s dream. It was about power, not about delicious food, or exploring the world. The perspective of power should make Armitage happy.

Armitage should think about that, about the prince, not about that stupid eight tentacled sea monster, who almost killed him. If Poe kissed him, Armitage would never find out what an evil plan Ren had. And that was a good thing.

Those were all sane thoughts, right thoughts. Hux was right. Poe leaned closer, Armitage almost instinctively moved away from him. It wasn't a big movement. The boat shouldn't shake from it.

But it did.

And when Armitage tried to stabilize it, and Poe reached forward to calm him down, it turned with a loud splash.

Armie hadn't tried to swim with his new legs yet and was a bit scared. He tried to scream. He failed and got even more scared. Something slimy touched his ankle. Thankfully the water was only to his hips when he was able to stand.

"It's fine. You are fine. Nothing to be scared of," Poe hugged him, patting his back and sounded concerned. “You are safe, my dear.”

He took Armitage in his arms, brought him to the shore, and covered him with a blanket. Dealing with the boat, Poe left him alone in his misery.

Disgrace! Armitage couldn't believe that he got scared of water, as a merbaby got scared of squids. 

On their way back, Poe didn't bother him with talk, and Armitage pretended to fall asleep. He promised himself to follow the plan. He needed to seduce and marry the prince, study fire, kill his father, live happily ever after. He needed that. More importantly, he deserved it. And being with Poe was the only way to achieve it.

He thought he had to marry Prince Rhones, then he was forced to marry King Pryde, now it was Poe. He didn’t have time to think if it was fair or not, but Poe was the best among them without a doubt. Maybe, with just a hint of doubt.

 _I will kiss the prince_ , Armitage silenced his concerns, _just not tonight_.

* * *

Waking up the next morning, Armitage basked in the warm rays of the early autumn sun. He listened to the birds singing and stretched, yawning and grunting soundlessly. Even though it was a lovely morning and physically he felt great, his mood was under the sea level. He wasn’t even remotely as happy as he was when he arrived at Yavin, and the perspective of meeting Poe during breakfast made him cringe. He was already late. That was disrespectful for the prince, Armie should have cared about his manners or the lack of such, but he didn’t.

He enjoyed the human world so much, every little bit of it — even his new body, especially his new body. But he hated pretending, hated with all his heart, and trying to develop genuine feelings for Poe was way harder than he’d thought when Kylo Ren had proposed the contract. 

All his life he had been playing a role for his father, the court of Arkanis, every noblemer, and smug prince.

He was tired of it. Utterly and hopelessly exhausted. All that pretense stuck like a fishbone in his throat. He got to the point where he could just say that he surrendered and lost his deal with Ren.

How bad could that be? Armitage wouldn’t need to marry anyone, wouldn't need to act like a nice little husband. Ren would protect him from the wrath of Brendol. And maybe even allow him to go to the surface once in a while.

On the other hand, submitting to Ren’s will wouldn’t solve anything other than getting back on his father. The war would start. Arkanis would be in danger. He would betray his people. 

_And_ , his inner voice reminded him, _knowing Ren I’ll turn into merman in the middle of the room._ That'd be hard to explain to Poe, but Klaudia’s face would be priceless.

The idea was ridiculous. Armitage raised from the bed and started dressing, promising himself again that he’d forget his doubts and put more effort into seducing the prince.

Armitage came to the garden and headed for the rose twined gazebo, where the prince liked to hold breakfast. It was impossible to see what was going on inside because of the tall bushes around, but it was filled with voices, and Armitage guessed that they started eating without him. Fine, good for them.

His previous bitterness twitched in his chest, and he thought about turning around and getting breakfast in the library. Instead, he clenched his fists and stomped to them.

When Armitage appeared at the entrance with the most charming smile, all the voices shut up and looked at Armie, only to continue their conversation once they recognized him. He examined the table and was unpleasantly surprised by the slouched man, sitting at his place on Poe’s right side. The man didn’t look at him, his head tilted, turned down at his plate, and his heart covered his features. He wore a light purple suit. Armitage was sure that he hadn’t seen him in the castle, but there was something familiar in his figure.

“Good morning, Armie,” said the prince, “I was worried that you might be sick after our adventures yesterday.”

Armitage smiled at him, cocking his head, and clipping his eyes, showing his appreciation and Poe continued, “I’d have visited you to make sure you were alright, but I got busy with Matt,” he pointed to the man on his right.

“The guard found him on the beach early in the morning. He doesn’t remember everything, but his ship was attacked by pirates too, and he is the only survivor. I ought to deal with this pirate gang rather sooner than later. Our shores must be safe for travelers.”

With each of his words the rancid, icky suspicions had crawled to Armie’s mind. He looked closely at the man. Matt wasn’t paying any attention to Armie or to Poe’s speech, seemingly absorbed by berries filled crepes with sour cream on his plate. Asymmetric face, soft long curly locks, plush lips. Hux was sure he saw him before.

The realization hit Armitage like a huge boulder. He blinked. He couldn’t believe his own eyes, but he was sure that the Sea Warlock was sitting near Poe with two human legs. His skin was not violet, just normal human pale pink with a constellation of countless moles. He had no fangs, but crooked teeth. His features were less angular or maybe his face just looked like that in the light of late morning sun. He was different but there was no mistake — he was Kylo Ren.

Armitage just stayed there and stared at Ren who pretended not to notice him, chatting quietly with the prince.

After a moment the first shock evaporated. Armitage sat on the vacant chair in front of the prince. He decided to act unperturbed, put fresh fruits on his plate, poured himself a cup of coffee, and started his breakfast, ignoring _Matt_.

"I found out that Matt was heading to Naboo to establish diplomatic relations. He is a nobleman from a faraway small country,” said Poe “What is its name, dear Matt?"

"I’m from Arkanis, your Highness," Ren said, with Armitage's crisp voice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I plan to post chapters once per week, each Monday. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
> 
> If you like it don't hesitate to like and leave a comment. I love your comments.
> 
> * * *
> 
> You can find me [tumblr](https://mysticmilks.tumblr.com), [twitter](https://twitter.com/mystic_milks) or [curiousCat](https://curiouscat.me/mystic_milks)
> 
> Many thanks to [@spiteandmalice ](https://twitter.com/spiteandmalice) for beta reading!
> 
> * * *
> 
> Shameless self-promo:  
>  _modern AUs:_  
>  Famous Russian AU, that my friends and I translated [To the Moon and Back](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22380280/)  
> Demon!Hux / hunter!Kylo [Dating a monster](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26703904)  
> Hux/Kylo/Techie, pwp with feelings and bottom!Kylo [You can have it all, but not all at once](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22721863/)  
> Russian train AU [The train on fire](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23477458/)  
> roommates AU, there was only one bed [Up All Night](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18018218/)  
> co-workers on a long business trip, friends to lovers [my face above the water, my feet can't touch the ground](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19928956/)
> 
>  _Canon:_  
>  post-tlj, media AU [you are burned up before you know it](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17705078)
> 
>  _Fantasy AUs:_  
>  Hux is a merman, Kylo is a Sea Warlock [The Little Merman](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24610624/)  
> Arranged marriage, Hux needs to marry a mysterious man and Kylo needs to deliver him there [drop the curtain, blow out the candles](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17462159)
> 
>  _Collection of ficlets_  
>  Ficlets for Kyluxpositivity [In all the worlds, in all the times](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25771663)


	6. Someone from the nightmare

Armitage couldn't hold back his gasp. Seeing Kylo Ren among people was bad enough, but hearing the octoman speaking his Armie’s own voice, was too horrible not to be a nightmare. He needed to wake up, and couldn’t even scream, gulping for air like a literal fish out of water. He realized that his right hand got stuck in the middle of the action, the fork halfway to his mouth. He forced himself to stop staring at Ren and continue eating.

“Do you know Arkanis, Armie? Is it near your country?”

All eyes were on him. The backstory of the ginger mute lad, who wrote in an unknown language and was found naked on the shore was a popular mystery among the castle folk for the last week and a half. Servants and nobles alike had different theories and were whispering them when he was passing near them.

_“Lady Catherine says that he must be a spy.”_

_“No! He is an imposed member of one of the upstarts merchants' families.”_

_“John claims that this Armie ran away from the slave ship that was headed far East. He was supposed to work in the brothel. Look how he swings his hips.”_

Now Armitage had no other way but to nod, and hope that Ren wouldn’t contradict him immediately.

 _Yes. My county is close to Arkanis. Very close_ , he showed with his fingers.

“Poor Armie, the prince has told me everything about you. Not that anyone knows much about you. Poor-poor lad, who can’t talk and only can write in your own language, that no one except you doesn't understand. Even the best scientists. I can’t imagine the horror you are going through, and how unsettling it must have been for everyone else.”

Armitage looked daggers at him, not understanding what Ren was playing at, but sure that it was nothing good.

“You know what just came to me, Your Highness?” Ren looked at Poe, yet his cold smile was directed at Armitage.

“What?”

“Armie, you said Armie, right? I think I heard about one Armie.”

“Really? What did you hear, dear Matt?” Poe beamed, while cold worms were squirming in Armitage’s stomach.

“I heard of Armie is the son of Brendol Hux. Is that your father, Armie?”

Armitage slowly nodded, expecting the worst from Ren. He would definitely say something horrendous about him, and Armitage would be banned from the castle or worse.

“That is such great news,” exclaimed Poe “Now we could find out more about our Armie.”

“I don’t know much,” said Ren, “But Brendol Hux is the Duke of Coruscant, a very wealthy and powerful man in our land.”

People start discussing the new information, asking Armitage questions to which he answered by nodding and shaking his head. He noticed that some were disappointed. A son of a duke was not that interesting as a pleasure slave or a spy. And he had no idea why Ren hadn’t destroyed him.

“That must be so hard for you,” said Ren when everyone calmed down and went back to their food “All alone here, without your people. Lonely and mute. Poor little thing. If only there was a way to stop your suffering. Oh, if only...”

The faint sly smile showed on Ren’s face for a fleeting moment.

Oh, no way, thought Armitage, don’t even hope to make me quit that easily. Hux hoped that Ren read it in his expression.

Breakfast continued. The ladies and noblemen turned their attention back to Ren, asking him questions, but when that stupid octopus answered he looked at Poe, only occasionally glancing at Armitage.

It was not only weird to hear Armie’s own voice from someone else, but Ren was using it completely wrong. He was cooing, mumbling, talking with it too high or too low.

“...and then I hit him with a sword,” the prince was telling one of his countless stories about himself. 

"You are so funny," Ren said, putting his hand on Poe's biceps, and gasping a high pitched "Oh, so firm, do you train, my prince?"

“Yes, I actually do,” Poe smiled in return, “I train every day with swords, and I ride horses, and I also...”

The horrible realization struck Armitage - the jerk was flirting with Poe!

The rest of the day proved that theory. Armitage endured Ren’s giggles, him casually touching Poe, leaning closer and saying the most idiotic things like ”Armie, he is T-H-E B-E-S-T horse rider, please dear prince, tell us more. You are so interesting. And so funny.”

Armitage wanted to barf.

The day was way too long. It was like time itself enjoyed Armie’s suffering and was moving excruciatingly slow.

After the dinner, Armitage came to his chamber, and after a silent argument with himself, he took a stack of paper and his writing tools and went to Ren’s room. That cunning Sea Warlock was accommodated on the same floor as Armitage but on the exact opposite side of the hall.

Armitage was angrily striding with the vague idea of confronting Ren. He was going to write his complaints with a lot of exclamation points or kill the warlock if the moment occurred. Both were equally good options.

Approaching Ren’s room, Armitage didn’t slow down. He bluntly opened a door, without knocking and saw Ren standing half-turned in front of a big wall mirror. He was naked. Completely, not even slippers on his feet.

The Sea Warlock was obviously enjoying the reflection of his human form and for a split second Armitage, taken by surprise by the view, did appreciate his body too.

Ren always had been impressive — broad and brawny chest, perfect abs, dark and mysterious energy surrounding him, multiple battle scars on his torso. If Ren wasn’t an octoman he’d be considered handsome in a brave-powerful way.

But never before Armitage had seen the warlock like that. He stood there free, complacent, proud. His posture was straight and open. Armitage traced Ren’s muscular legs, firm ass, strong back with his gaze. In the mirror, Armitage could see a big flaccid cock, resting on the bush of dark hair. The hair continued almost to his belly button as a thin trail. The whole picture was utterly engrossing.

Armitage almost forgot why he came here, gawking at him. Their eyes met in the reflection, bringing Armitage back from the weird state back to reality.

Suddenly he realized that it already had happened in the other life where Armie had had a tail and Ren eight tentacles. It had been exactly like now, only the other way around. Two or maybe three years ago, Snoke had come to the castle. That had been the last time Armitage had seen the old monster. Brendol had needed an ancient artifact that had been rumored to be hidden in the ruins Coruscant. The legends had said that Coruscant had been guarded by magic hence Snoke’s help.

That time, Armitage hadn’t been sure why he was asked to accompany Ren and the guards — he’d never been in Coruscant. But his father had ordered Armie to go there, and he hadn’t asked questions.

The mission had been even simpler than the one with the wall. They’d spend two days there but Ren found the artifact in a few hours. It was the protective necklace that Brendon would have lost in the next battle. While Ren had been doing his magic and the guards had been monitoring the perimeter, Armitage had been wandering around the castle and found a small study chamber. The room had been well preserved. There had been a table, a stool, bookshelves, with a big mirror on it.

Armitage had skimmed through the books and found one with the tales of the human world. He’d been engulfed in reading it, and when he’d taken his eyes up he’d seen Ren’s reflection staring at him. He’d look as if he’d seen an intricate mosaic or a beautiful coral reef, with a slight smile and awe. They’d stayed like that for a moment.

“What are you doing here?” had asked Ren hoarsely.

“Reading,” had mumbled Armie, discreetly hiding the cover of the book. “I—”

“You should not wander here alone. Now pack _your_ book, let’s get out of here, prince.” 

In reality, Armitage averted his gaze, looking at his own slippers. He had opened his mouth to mumble excuses, somehow feeling exactly like he’d felt in the ruins — ashamed and caught. But he couldn’t say a word. After a brief shock, Ren had the audacity to smile—exactly like that time— before turning to face him, igniting Armitage’s rage again, and reminding him that the situation was completely and entirely.

Ren didn't bother faking human's shy behaviors and didn't attempt to cover himself and kept grinning while Armitage was flooded with exasperation.

"Well, well, well, Your Highness, dear you kept me waiting," Ren said, thankfully with his own snide voice, crossing his arms over his chest, "What took you so long? I thought you would pay me a visit right after we said our goodbyes to our pretty little Poe."

Smug jellyfish!

Armitage crossed the room to the small table, sat on the plush stool, and wrote, stabbing the paper with the pen: _WHAT ARE YOU PLAYING AT???!!!_

He finished and showed the note to Ren, pointing it right to his smug, stupid, completely asymmetrical face.

Ren only huffed.

"Did you enjoy your human body parts? They are so funny,” asked Ren, touching his own still naked body in a way too theatrical manner, ignoring the paper.

Armitage frowned.

“I’ll take it as no. But you like watching mine,” said Ren, and took a note from his hands.

“What did you write here? Hm, what am I playing, indeed? Prince, the whole Arkanis says you are the smartest merperson around — Oh, little prince Armitage, he’s always reading, he’s always inventing something," Ren winked at him, making an obscene swing with his hips before stepping to his wardrobe and throwing a thin golden robe over himself. Finally.

"You tell me, prince, what is my game if you are as smart as everyone claims. Sorry, you can't, I forgot, silly me. Just write, Your Highness."

Barely containing the bubbling rage, Armitage wrote, trying to appear composed, and showed it to Ren.

_you want to lure Poe in your slimy tentacles_

"That was obvious, little prince," Ren smiled smugly again. A fake mean smile that didn’t suit him. Not even a little. Ren came closer, stopping behind Armitage’s back and looking over his shoulder. “Anything else?”

_you can't do tha_

Armitage didn't finish, when Ren said "I can and will. It’s not that hard as you might think."

_That wasn't part of our deal. You are cheating!!!!_

"No. I did no such thing. It wasn't forbidden. Everything that is not forbidden is allowed. I simply used creative thinking, you could have done that too. And you, prince, conveniently forgot to tell me that your loved one was a prince. Prince Poe of Yavin. Of all people,” Ren said with a snarl. 

“Maybe I didn’t know you’d be here too. Maybe it’s all a happy coincidence and we just happened to pursue one man. Unpredicted things happen when you forget to mention important details during the contract signing."

Armitage stared at Ren, half-turning his head. It wasn’t the most comforting position for a staring contest with Ren hanging above him like a hungry shark.

 _Is that your genius plan? you want to stay between us, and distract him for the rest of my time?_ Armitage wrote.

“Oh no-no, prince. Do not think that bad about me?” Ren leaned closer from behind and whispered into Armitage’s ear, wet lips almost touching it “I want to use your shallow prince, make him marry me, get you as the part of our contract, then throw him in the deepest cell and rule this stupid land. That’s my plan.”

Armitage’s hands were trembling when he wrote.

_Poe won’t marry you!!!_

“Do you believe yourself, Hux?”

Ren put his palms on Armitage’s shoulders and stroked them. Tender touches with just the right pressure from his strong warm hands. It was so gentle that Armitage even forgot what the horror was going on. Belatedly he shook Ren’s off.

“I’ll do it in the next one and a half weeks right in front of your eyes and I will invite you to our wedding. You’ll lose both him and your freedom. And you’ll be mine. Or—” he paused, putting his chin in Armie’s shoulder “you can admit your defeat now, and we’ll end this farce.”

_I’ll never be yours. I’ll_

Ren stepped back. He looked like he was surprised by Armie’s statement. Ren made a complicated gesture with both hands and Armitage felt light warmth in his throat and started coughing.

“You gave me my voice back?” he mumbled, shocked.

“Only here. You have terrible handwriting. It hurts my eyes and I feel a dire urge to give you a calligraphy lesson,” Ren deadpanned “The prince is not your true love, and I’ll prove that to you!”

Armitage crossed the room, following Ren, barely containing the need to slap him. He wanted to argue with Ren, to scream and debate, but he couldn't come up with any clever reply other than crass cursing that suited more to a market worker than to a prince.

Damn Ren was right — whatever their stupid contract meant by 'true love' it was definitely not Poe. Even if Poe wasn’t careless and flirty, Armitage wouldn't love him. Tonight he knew that for sure.

"We'll see!" Armitage said stubbornly anyway to Ren’s face.

“See what?”

Their noses were almost touching. Both were breathing heavily.

“See what, Hux?” Ren repeated. His fingers flew up, hovering near but not touching Armie’s cheek.

“Whatever you are planning, it won’t work,” Armitage said, turning his face down. He knew his cheeks must be burning red. “I won’t let you marry the prince.”

“Hux...” He said quietly, almost inaudibly.

“I won’t let you win,” Armitage said, louder than he intended. “I won’t.”

“It’s not about winning.”

“It is for me,” the words escaped his mouth, and he knew they were true. He hadn’t won ever in his life. He needed this, even if he didn’t have any idea what to do next.

Ren looked like he wanted to say something. Armie saw it in his face. Instead, he turned around and walked to his bed.

“As you wish, prince,” he said from there.

Armitage looked at Ren, who was sprawling, only in a thin golden robe at the bed with a stupid smile on his stupid face and full of stupid smugness. He decided not to continue this and strode to the exit.

“Hey Hux,” he heard near the door. He stopped but didn’t turn.

“I didn’t know that the potion would turn you immediately,” he said.

Armitage slammed the door behind himself. If that was Ren’s way of saying sorry Armie didn’t care for it. Ren didn’t know? And why on earth should Armie believe him after his lie?

In the safety of his room, Armitage collapsed on the bed, face to the pillow, and groaned. His voice was gone again.

He was a fool to agree on the deal in the first place. He panicked and made a terrible mistake. 

Now he needed to find a solution. And quickly.

 _Think, think_ , Armitage urged himself.

Ren was right, if anything Armie was smart — now was the time to prove it. He remembered his last meeting with Phasma. It felt like a lifetime ago, he was naive and happy, ready to marry prince Rhones. They had been lying on the soft weed cover and she’d said that magic contracts were tricky. Minutes ago Ren had said it himself, that anything that was not forbidden, was allowed.

There was a loophole. It must be. Armitage just needed to see it. His mind raised remembering the contract. True love kiss, Armitage was sure his saving was connected to it. They’d agreed that the kiss must be from someone who had gentle feelings for Armitage. With Ren messing up, he doubted that Poe really felt anything real toward him. Desire? Maybe. Maybe a curiosity, and a need to pursue, but not more than that.

But Armitage could find someone else. Right? He couldn't ask Ren, but it wasn’t explicitly forbidden. Hence, the loophole he was searching for. Armitage could make anyone kiss him.

He immediately thought about Rose. The kiss didn’t have to be sexual. There was nothing about lust in the contract. She seemed to care about Armie and she liked him. He could trick her into kissing him as a friend, maybe pretend that he was upset or lonely, and it might work. Armitage wouldn’t lose anything for trying.

It'd be a solution. He might get legs for permanent use. He’d have his voice back and would beat Ren. Just the thought of his unhappy long face made Armitage smile. That would be a nice view.

But who would he be in the human’s world?

How would it help Arkanis?

Who knows what other nasty things are in that contract?

Armitage should have read it more carefully. What if after the kiss he’d be somehow magically bound to that person forever. Or even worse, Ren could be angry and harm Rose. Armitage would never allow that to happen to his only real human friend.

If not Rose and not Poe, then who else?

Armitage found himself passing from one corner of the room to another. _Ren will try to kill anyone who kissed me anyway_ , he thought. _Just in spite, unless_ …

...unless it's Ren!

How come he didn't think about it faster?

Phasma was right, Ren wanted him. And Armitage could use that. Whatever happens, he wouldn’t get in the worst situation that he was now. In the best-case scenario, it'd kill Ren, if there was some nasty close in the contract that Armitage hadn’t read. But that was doubtful. Amie wasn’t that lucky. 

More likely, it’d just make Armitage human. In the worst, well, he'd be still bound to that stupid-man, but at least, it'd on Armitage's terms. And if that happened, Ren would have to help him with Arkanis and the war.

That might work. Ren wasn’t stupid, but Armitage was way smarter, and Armitage was desperate.

**The end of the Book II**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like it don't hesitate to leave kudos and comments. I love your comments.
> 
> * * *
> 
> You can find me [tumblr](https://mysticmilks.tumblr.com), [twitter](https://twitter.com/mystic_milks) or [curiousCat](https://curiouscat.me/mystic_milks)
> 
> Many thanks to [@spiteandmalice ](https://twitter.com/spiteandmalice) for beta reading!
> 
> * * *
> 
> Shameless self-promo:  
>  _modern AUs:_  
>  Famous Russian AU, that my friends and I translated [To the Moon and Back](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22380280/)  
> Demon!Hux / hunter!Kylo [Dating a monster](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26703904)  
> Hux/Kylo/Techie, pwp with feelings and bottom!Kylo [You can have it all, but not all at once](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22721863/)  
> Russian train AU [The train on fire](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23477458/)  
> roommates AU, there was only one bed [Up All Night](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18018218/)  
> co-workers on a long business trip, friends to lovers [my face above the water, my feet can't touch the ground](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19928956/)
> 
>  _Canon:_  
>  post-tlj, media AU [you are burned up before you know it](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17705078)
> 
>  _Fantasy AUs:_  
>  Hux is a merman, Kylo is a Sea Warlock [The Little Merman](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24610624/)  
> Arranged marriage, Hux needs to marry a mysterious man and Kylo needs to deliver him there [drop the curtain, blow out the candles](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17462159)
> 
>  _Collection of ficlets_  
>  Ficlets for Kyluxpositivity [In all the worlds, in all the times](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25771663)


	7. Attack

**Book III: The epic battle with the Sea Warlock**

_ Surface journey note 7 _

_ Day 14 _

_ I could have never imagined that my plan would lead to such an absurd situation. I didn't find any weapons for Arkanis. I didn't find a life partner. And now I fell into Kylo Ren's trap and the only plausible way out of it is making him kiss me. _

_ For three days, including today, I put a tremendous effort into the task of seduction Kylo Ren. Kylo Ren of all humans and sea creatures! I’m writing these words and I can’t believe myself. _

_ I don’t know what surprises me more at this point — that I, the crown prince of Arkanis, have chosen as the target of my interest Kylo Ren the Sea Warlock or that the said Kylo Ren is completely and totally ignoring all my flirtations. _

_ On Monday I acted subtly. I was fluttering my eyelashes, smiling at him, giggling like a fool. I was doing all the things I saw other mers doing around Phasma for years, trying to imitate it. I even made our fingers touch during lunch and later when we were playing cards. Ren acted as if he didn’t notice anything. _

_ On Tuesday I became more audacious. We all went on a carriage ride during late morning hours. I decided to apply the oldest trick in the book — I pretended to be clumsy, so he can save me. I thought that I’d later come to thank him for my rescue, and he’d kiss me. The plan was brilliant in its simplicity. _

_ When we were walking in the park and he was nearby, I ‘accidentally’ misstepped, losing my footing. That idiot not only didn’t catch me, but he also fell on top of me. And I’m sure he did it on purpose. We both were covered in dirt, smelt awfully, and Poe made the whole group ride back to the castle because of us. That was a horrible day. And Kylo Ren didn't even apologize. _

_ Today, during the dinner I was desperate and as blunt as possible. The whole time I was staring at Ren, biting my lip, and pretending that I didn’t see anyone but him in the whole room. The prince even asked me if I was fine. The stupid squid ignored me! He didn’t even ask me for a dance. Not even once. He danced with Poe and smirked as if I wasn’t in the room. _

_ Tonight I came up with a new plan. Desperate times require desperate measures. I hope it'll work. _

After a short inner argument, Armitage knocked on the door. Tonight he decided to act more politely than he’d acted during the last visit. For almost a minute Armitage stood in the hallway, counting seconds and nervously stepping from one leg to another. It was chilly in the castle in the middle of the night. Armitage felt goosebumps rising on his arms and legs. He wore nothing but a thin dark robe and comfy slippers with toe curled upward.

_ Ren must be sleeping _ , he mused.  _ I can knock one more time, to be sure, and then go back. It would be a disaster if I’m spotted here. _

He hadn't finished the thought when the door opened. Kylo Ren appeared in front of him in his golden robe, leaning on the door frame. His hair was a mess, and his face looked drowsy and annoyed.

"Hux?" he asked, blinking as if he wasn't sure. "What is wrong?"

Armitage started explaining with gestures that this was important. Ren waved his hand. Then Armie felt already familiar warmth in his throat.

"Are you going to invite me in?" Armitage asked, enjoying the ability to speak.

"It depends."

"On what?" he raised his voice. _ I need to be nice and quiet _ , he reminded himself. He added a small smile to smooth it.

“On the purpose of your visit,” Ren said but moved aside before Armitage answered, allowing him to pass, and closing the door behind him.

“It’s two in the morning, Your Highness,” grumbled Ren, following him. “If you came to accuse me again, I’d rather move this important talk to morning.”

“I wanted to talk,” Armie said softly. He looked around the room, spotted a big armchair, slowly walked there, and sprawled himself over it. Hopefully, looking alluring and relaxed, and not stupid.

“Talk? About what?” Ren came to him and stopped, crossed armed a few steps away.

“Nothing in particular. Just talk,” Armitage stretched his arms up, pretending to be nonchalant, but revealing his chest, “You know talk, like people do, like merpeople do, like, I’m sure, octopeople do too. Like all normal and sane sentient beings do.”

“I highly doubt that midnight gossiping is your real intention, prince.”

“Why not?” Armie raised his eyebrows “I’m lonely here. I can’t speak to anyone but you. I hear my own voice coming from your mouth all the time during the day, but I can’t use it. It threatens to bring on the edge of insanity, Ren. I miss the conversations. I miss the ability to speak my mind.”

Armitage paused and theatrically sighed. 

“That is my intention — talk, and hear your real voice for a change. You know, your own voice suits you better. Low and husky. ”

Ren sighed too, but it mid-way it turned into a yawn. He sat on the bed opposite to the chair, put his arms on his knees, not taking his eyes off Armitage, as if he was a threat. He didn’t say anything.

After waiting for a few seconds for Ren to do something, Armitage decided to continue as he intended.

“This evening was lovely,” Armie said “Dancing and wine. I enjoyed the human music a lot. And you are unexpectedly a very good dancer. Did you use your magic to learn all the moves?”

“No,” Ren answered without emotion. Armie was ready to continue chatting, when Ren added with a dismissing huff, “My magic doesn’t work that way.”

Great response. It was hard for Armie not to get angry at him, but one more fight wouldn't solve anything.

“Interesting. I didn’t know that. Can you explain how your magic does work?”

“No.”

“Oh, you are so mysterious Kylo Ren,” Armitage faked a smile, barely stopping himself from frowning.

"I can't explain it, because there is no explanation."

“How interesting. Can you then tell me how your day was? Or that is also a mystery?”

“No. No mystery,” Ren smiled in return. No, he didn’t smile, that was a proper mean grin. “You were around during most of it, but then Poe and I went to the garden.”

Ren stood up, came closer, rested his hands on the armrests, and leaned down to Armie's face. “And the prince told me the most wonderful things. You know what he said, Hux?”

“No idea.” Armie tilted his head and looked into deep brown eyes that were penetrating him with their gaze.

“He told me that he saw me in a dream.”

“Lovely.”

“That’s not all—”

“Hey,” interrupted Armitage, reaching and touching Ren’s shoulder with his fingertips, not taking his eyes away from his face “I don’t want to talk about Poe. I want to talk about you.”

“No. You don’t.” Ren brushed Armie's hand away, went away, and sat on his bed.

“But I do.” Armitage slowly came to him, feeling like a complete idiot, when he rounded the bed, climbed on it, and leaned to Ren’s ear from behind, whispering ”I thought to know you better before you became my master.”

“Stop it.”

“Why?” Armitage whispered, his lips almost touching Ren’s ear.

Ren stiffened.

“I know what you are doing, prince,” he said, his voice low. He was breathing loudly through his nose.

“What?” Armitage’s hand slipped on his chest, hiding under the fabric of his robe. Armie had never touched anyone like that, and he hoped he was doing it right. He felt Ren’s chest rising and falling, and the beating of his heart.

“You—. You are trying to break our contract” Ren inhaled, “It’s not working.”

“It doesn’t?” Armie’s hand traveled lower. His chest pressed to Ren’s back.

“No,” Ren abruptly stood up, not turning around “You act like a teen boy, and frankly, you are embarrassing yourself.”

Armitage wanted to scream at him, but he took a deep inhale instead, and unfasten his own robe. He had never imagined that it’d be the way his first time would be. He’d always thought it’d be romantic, with a handsome prince or king, after their wedding feast. Now he remembered all the crude things Phasma told him, and he braced himself for the rough treatment.

“Do I act juvenile now?” he murmured, arching his back up, imitating a sexy pose he’d seen in engravings.

Ren turned and stared at him. His eyes opened widely. His face prolonged with shock and surprise. That wasn’t the reaction Armie expected to get.

“What are you doing?” Ren mumbled, looking on the floor. His cheeks were surprisingly pinkish.

“You claimed you know my plan,” Armitage said with a challenge in his voice.

He crawled to the end of the bed, stood on his knees, spreading them wide and showing himself. His face was leveled with Ren’s chest. He put his hands on it. Ren didn’t move away, and Armitage regarded it as a success. He left a trail of small pecks, moving up to his neck. Ren trembled under each touch. When Armitage placed an open mouth kiss on his throat, it vibrated with a low growl.

“Don’t do it,” whispered Ren.

“Isn’t that what you want?” Armie's lips moved to his chin.

“Not like that.”

Ren’s hands locked on Armitage’s wrist. Armitage moaned, closed his eyes leaning closely. A moment later Ren tightened the grip, and moved Armitage’s hands up and to the sides, making Armie look at his face.

“Stop it,” hissed Ren, “What the hell are you doing? Do you find this funny?”

“Funny?” Armitage snarls, shocked.

“That's the way, you prince, see the humor, huh? Just messing with other people?”

“What? Messing with you? You tricked me into it! You lied to me! And now you're making me a bad guy? What is wrong with you? Funny? First, you took my voice, then you came to torture me in person, and when I came to you, I’m the one messing with you?”

Armitage fastened his robe and got off the bed.

“Hux,—”

“What?” He looked at Ren, and some unfathomed expression flicked on his face. An instant later it changed to his usual mean grin.

“You didn’t let me finish my lovely story about the prince,” he said “Our dear prince Poe saw peculiar dreams. These dreams started after his ship had almost crashed near the east border of Arkanis. Poe was sure that some wonderfully magical creature saved him. That creature had the voice exactly like mine. What a delightful coincidence, prince.”

Armitage was silent, refusing to swallow the bait.

“Nothing to say? Oh, I thought you wanted to talk. How about this topic — the merman prince committing treason to save a human, and then he runs away abandoning his country,” Ren was piercing him with his eyes. 

“You used me, no telling what you were doing,” he continued “pursuing a man you saw only once in your life and leaving me dealing with the mess you left behind. And now you act like you forgot about the prince and come here to spend the night with me,” he was almost screaming, “Why don’t we talk about this?”

“Go to the pit of the ocean!” Armie yelled in return. He fastened his robe with trembling hands and stomped to the door.

He didn’t stop until he was in his own room. The moment the door closed behind him, Armitage slid on the floor weeping.

_ His fingers are tracing down Armie’s spine. The feeling is familiar. He arches to meet it. The man has touched him many times before and knows how Armie likes it.  _

_ It’s a dream. _

_ Armitage is sure of it with that dull urgency that comes in the morning during particularly pleasant or interesting dreams. _

_ He knows it’s a dream. He wants to forget that it’s not real, that it’ll disappear when he opens his eyes. He wants to enjoy this blissful intimacy just a moment longer. _

_ He is in the same throne room again. The room that looks like nothing he has seen before, but now he knows it’s his. It always has been his. As the man on whose lap Armitage is sitting — he also always has been his. They were made for each other. Whatever they do they’ll always end up in each other's hands. _

_ They both are completely naked, bare, and real. More real than anything else in the world. In all the worlds. Armitage’s subliminal understands what it means, yet he pushes the thought away, refusing to face the truth, as he refuses to open his eyes and face the man under him. _

_ He is afraid, afraid that the man will disappear like a mist, afraid that after seeing the man's face he won’t be able to pretend that he doesn't know who he is. _

_ But Armitage does know. He’d known that the last time he’d seen that dream. But he can’t face him, seeing his smiling face would make it real. Too real.  _

_ “Hux,” the low voice whispers in his ear “I need you.” _

_ “I need you,” the familiar voice repeats like a prayer. “I need you. I need you. I need you.” _

_ No, Armitage wants to say, no you are just saying so, you are not real, you are tricking me. He is a liar. _

_ “I have never lied to you. I’ll never hurt you.” _

_ Instead, Armie leans closer to the man's chest. _

_ “I know,” Armitage hears himself saying “ We’ll achieve everything we want. But only together. Because I need you too.” _

During the last three days, Armitage had spent almost all his time in the library. That was his comfort place. When he needed answers he always turned for help to books. As long as he could remember himself reading, researching, and trying to invent things, was his solution to all of his problems. Back in Arkanis, when he had been named the rightful heir, he had used to fall asleep in the library, trying to find out how to be a good prince and a good son. He hadn’t succeeded in the latter, as Brendol liked to remind him, but the merfolk of Arkanis accepted and respected him.

His trust in knowledge had worked pretty well until now.  _ If by pretty well you mean to lead you to the disaster you are now _ , helpfully supplied his inner critic with the voice of Rae Sloane. If only you stayed in your castle, and were respectful to your father, you’d now be preparing for your wedding, not for the fight with evil Sea Warlock, and then with your angry father and your king, if you were lucky to survive the first one.

Armitage banished that voice of doubt, stuffing it deeper into his mind. It was not helpful anyway. And was not nearly similar to what Lady Sloane would say — his mentor had never settled for less than perfection, never gave up. Armitage remembered stories about her with a small squadron of loyal warriors, stopping the attack of the ten-time more powerful enemy by using the narrow gorge. Merpeople said that she was the one who’d adopted the new magic for the army with amulets and enchantment swords. They said that during the last war her warriors had been tempted to betray her with purses full of pearls, and no one had agreed.

She would have been a great queen if only she had the right birthrights. Armitage thought about that way too often. That was unfair that his father sat on the throne not her, and only because he was a part of the right family.

Lady Sloane wouldn’t have wanted him to give up. No, Rae Sloane would not have wallowed in sadness and contemplated what should have been done differently, she would seek a solution and not give up until she found one.

Armitage went back to his book, rattling with the stack in front of him. He spent hours looking for anything useful. His tenacity didn’t help much. His reading level in human language was still way too weak to read fast and battle complicated topics. In those past three days, he’d only managed to browse through a handful of volumes.

Armitage met way too many unknown words to grasp the gist of the story in his attempts to learn about military tactics and weaponry. Armitage had read history, it has easier vocabulary than  _ Art of war _ , or something called  _ The book of five rings.  _ The parts that he managed to understand were described that humans loved war as much, or even more than Brendol did. Merpeople fought because of the territory and resources, and they were blatant about it, people created weak excuses like the color of their skin or religion. He was smart enough to understand that it was a ruse. 

History books were more interesting but predictably were deeply connected to wars too. Yesterday he’d learned about the small but prosperous Kingdom of Naboo. It was three days away from Yavin, but they always were allies. Half a century ago the tiny dispute about trade with the guild of merchants grew into a full-scale conflict that engulfed the whole region. The war was long and exhausting, until around forty years ago a young warrior-princess had led the rebellion. This story of Princesses Leia and her victory impressed him the most.

_Lady Rae and_ _Phasma would have loved her_ , he thought.

He was in the middle of finding out how Princes Leia escaped the captivity of Lord Vader when he saw Lady Rose approaching him. She was in her uniform, hair tugged in a high ponytail, and she looked like she came straight from her workshop, only stopping to clean her hands.

“Hello, Armie. You are early today,” she said and put the bag with her instruments on the floor.

He smiled tiredly, and dumbshowed—he hated that word—her that he had nothing else to do anyway. It wasn’t an easy thing to show but he thought that he became much better in gesturing his thoughts.

“I thought you’d want to join the prince and Matt on a boat trip,” she said studying his face.

Armitage cringed.

No, he gestured, it was not his idea of fun. And he’d better read and write. Here. With her.

“What? You don’t like Matt?” she smirked, “He didn’t woo you, as he did everyone else?”

Armitage shakes his head, showing that no, Matt was stupid and gross and all his actions were irrational. He wanted to explain that even his name was stupid. What does that even mean? Matt? He ended up throwing his hands up and down angrily.

She looked at the books, and it seemed like she was hiding a tiny smile.

“Really?” she asked while laying word samples in front of him, so Armitage could copy it until his hand hurt. “I can’t say that I’m as enamored with him as everyone else. But he doesn’t seem to be that bad. He acts a bit unnatural but I guess it’s because he’s lonely and upset.”

_ What? _ Armie wanted to ask.

He showed that by dramatically raising his eyebrows and then frowning.

“Haven't you noticed? I don’t know what has happened with his ship, and I am not convinced by his ‘I don’t remember much, it must be a shock’ explanation. But he looks like it physically hurts him to be here. And he looks like that at you, you know.”

No. Uh-uh. No! What? He showed with his hands and face. At least Armitage really hoped that he conveyed those eloquent words right.

“Yes. It’s like something in you upsets him, but in a weird way. But maybe it's easier to spot for me as an outsider. No one pays attention to a girl dressed as a servant, so I’m used to watching and thinking.”

Armitage gestured that she wasn’t a servant. She was a lady.

“Thanks, but I am a servant. The King and the Queen were very kind, taking us into the castle but I’ll never become one of them. It’s the same for my sister. But I— It can’t be changed. I’ll always prefer work to fancy balls, this outfit to the finest dress, and reading a good book to idle chat.”

Armitage started protesting but he didn’t know how to show it. What burlesque gesture to use to explain that it was not true? And even if he could have talked he wouldn’t be sure what to say. 

He could say that he himself had a workshop and also wasn’t the biggest fan of dancing, and he was a crown prince. But he had also had doubts about fitting in. He doubted that he was suited for the pretentious life of royalty no matter in Arkanis or in Yavin. He doubted that he ever fit in the human world, not really. He doubted that whenever he went he’d always be an outsider, a pensive creature, who only pretended to be a prince.

He loved Arkanis, yet he’d run away from there. He said he wanted to rule humans, but he wasn’t able to fall in love or even pretend to fall in love with Poe for that. Maybe Brendol was right, maybe Hux was a spoiled brat, who was not able to make a sacrifice for the greater good? 

“What is wrong?” Rose asked. Apparently, Armitage had been sitting still for all that time “Why are you sad?”

Armie sighted and looked her in the eyes. He pointed to her mouth, made a talking gesture with his hand, and then showed a crown with his fingers above his head.

“You want to hear about the prince?”

Armitage nodded.

“Poe… you know, it’s not easy with him. He’s all cheers and smiles, and everyone adores him. But—” she paused and looked Armie in the eyes.

”It’s not a secret. Everyone in the kingdom knows that. The prince was not raised to be a ruler. Sophia should have ruled. She should have united the nations. Prince Poe was raised to follow, to be her general, to act as she commands. There were years of peace after the union with Naboo. He grew up without a burden of power, without thoughts of war. And then Sophie died. Naboo’s capital Verdana was attacked. And soon, the war that took my parents started. It was tragic, but when it was over, we all thought that peace would last forever. I was little but I remember soldiers throwing away their swords — no one thought it’d happened again. Not after that,” she stopped, and inhaled, closing her eyes for a moment.

”That was the time when the prince was eleven. Then there were years of balls, and dances, and wine. Years of happiness, for everyone. No one thought they would attack again. And now Poe's parents might return with the news of the war. If they return. It’s not what anyone wants to think, but with how often ships are crashing lately. Well, Poe might seem not serious, but these might be the last days of happiness for him,” she whispered. “And then the dark times might come, the time he was never prepared for.”

They sit in silence for a long time. The sun began to set. The room became darker. They would need to use candles soon if they wanted to see each other.

“You know,” she stated, with a wan smile “At the beginning, I thought you were a spy. It was too crazy to be true. Pirates, then a ship crash, you can’t talk, you write in a weird language no one can decipher, your country is far away. I thought that Poe was gullible to trust you. But… well, you are the worst spy ever.”

Armitage huffed, and her smile became happier too.

“You acted strangely. You wanted to know everything, especially about our weaponry. But you know,” she used that  _ you know _ again, and Armie smiled at it “Poe trusted you, and he was right. I don’t think you are evil. You are more like a fish out of water,” she said “But I was like that too. After my family died in the siege. I tried to fit in, then I tried to stay away. And then I found balance. I know you will too. Once you find what you really want you will find your way.”

Armitage shook his head. No, she was wrong. He knew what he wanted. His path was very simple. He wanted to stop the war, stop Brendol, achieve peace and prosperity in Arkanis, research the human world, find out all about their magic and their lives, and join their worlds under one rule. That was his fate, one way or another.

“Are you sure?” she asked, “You look like a man who thinks there is no other way but in fact, there are countless roads if you just want to see them.”

Armitage faked a polite smile and showed that he needed to go. The dinner was soon, and he needed to change before it. He quickly went to the hall, leaving Rose alone.

_ Surface journey note 12 _

_ Day 20 _

_ There is no word in mer language (or in any other language) to express my hatred toward Kylo Ren. _

_ When I try to seduce him, Ren pretends that he doesn’t see me. When I decide to ignore him, I seem like I can’t get rid of him. He is everywhere. He glued himself to the prince and the prince glued himself to me. _

_ It’s like Kylo Ren is doing it on purpose. Yesterday we all went to another village. There Poe told us how he heroically saved me from too spicy meat during our last trip from the castle. After that Ren went to the vendor and came back with the two portions of that thing—chorizo—, giving one to me. Poe protested. Everyone else in the market was looking at me and I had to eat it. The chorizo was way too spicy but it was worth it. My nose was running, and I was crying, but the same thing happened to Ren. It was fun and funny and I hate him. _

_ After our last disastrous meeting in his room, I have never been alone with him. I made sure of that. And I can’t even talk with him without feeling stupid. Sometimes when he stares at me, it looks like he sees me without clothes, and I think I caught human shyness. I want to cover myself, and I want to scream. _

_ I feel like I’m going crazy. Ren haunted my days, he haunted my dreams, I wanted him to stay away, I wanted him to be around. _

_ I have never felt lik _

The knocking on his window disrupted Armitage’s writing. He turned and saw a small white bird humming outside. It was in the middle of the night, so he wondered what kind of bird it might be.

It didn’t go away. He came to the window with a chandelier in hand.

The bird was strange. It was small, smaller than a sparrow, and it was moving its tiny wings rapidly. Maybe it was a huge insect. Armitage looked closer, almost pressing his nose to the glass. The creature was made of paper.

Armitage opened the window. It flew inside, made a few circles around him and landed on his hand. Armie blinked and the creature unfolded itself.

There in the middle of the sheet, among the multiple folds, written with neat handwriting:

_ Armory tower midnight _ .

And the ink mark in the shape of an octopus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you like it don't hesitate to leave kudos and comments. I love your comments.
> 
> * * *
> 
> You can find me [tumblr](https://mysticmilks.tumblr.com), [twitter](https://twitter.com/mystic_milks) or [curiousCat](https://curiouscat.me/mystic_milks)
> 
> Many thanks to [@spiteandmalice ](https://twitter.com/spiteandmalice) for beta reading!
> 
> * * *
> 
>  **Shameless self-promo**  
>  _modern AUs:_  
>  Famous Russian AU, that my friends and I translated [To the Moon and Back](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22380280/)  
> Demon!Hux / hunter!Kylo [Dating a monster](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26703904)  
> Hux/Kylo/Techie, pwp with feelings and bottom!Kylo [You can have it all, but not all at once](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22721863/)  
> Russian train AU [The train on fire](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23477458/)  
> roommates AU, there was only one bed [Up All Night](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18018218/)  
> co-workers on a long business trip, friends to lovers [my face above the water, my feet can't touch the ground](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19928956/)
> 
>  _Canon:_  
>  post-tlj, media AU [you are burned up before you know it](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17705078)
> 
>  _Fantasy AUs:_  
>  Hux is a merman, Kylo is a Sea Warlock [The Little Merman](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24610624/)  
> Arranged marriage, Hux needs to marry a mysterious man and Kylo needs to deliver him there [drop the curtain, blow out the candles](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17462159)
> 
>  _Collection of ficlets_  
>  Ficlets for Kyluxpositivity [In all the worlds, in all the times](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25771663)


	8. Defense

Pulling his hood further down, Armitage covered his face, when he approached the turn. To his right was the passage to the armory tower. That was his last chance to turn around, his chance to forget about this meeting, go back to his chamber, and stick to his original plan of seducing prince Poe. Or come up with any other plan that did not involve Kylo Ren.

He wasn’t even sure why he’d decided to come to this meeting in the first place. His first urge had been to destroy the note — he’d promised himself not to interact with Ren and he’d been able to follow that promise. He hadn’t even crumpled the paper. He’d tried to convince himself that he’d been afraid of the magic inside it, but that’d been far from true.

After their last disaster meeting, Armitage had been sure he’d never talk to that squid unless he’s forced to. He’d been ashamed and he’d been rejected.

Argued with arguing with himself for half an hour, and all the arguments had been against coming to Ren. Yet he’d dressed up, and five minutes after midnight he was standing at the turn to the armory, begging his legs to bring him back to his chambers.

Armitage had always been known in Arkanis for his cold, thoughtful behavior. That was the best survival strategy around his volatile father. At a young age, Armitage had learned to control and conceal his emotions. Yet tonight, instead of ignoring Ren’s note, Hux was running to the secret rendezvous, wearing his best light green attire. 

The curiosity overcame Armitage, and he strode right through the dark hallway, passing the portraits that looked ominous in the dim moonlight. The excitement boiled in him with each step. That close to the destination it was hard to pretend that he didn’t want to see the man.

He felt alive. He shouldn’t be like that. It was a dangerous game. Objectively Ren was much more dangerous than Brendol the Fierce had ever dreamed to be. Maybe that palpable aura of danger was part of the appeal. Ren was like fire, abruptly thought Armitage before the last turn. Yes, he was dangerous, but endlessly fascinating, and could bring light as much as he could destroy.

Armitage willed his face to neutral and a bit mean-haughty expression, pursing his lips, and turned around the corner, leading to the armory.

He felt instant disappointment.

There was no one, but two sentinels on the small space in front of the entrance of the tower. Before leaving his room Armie had looked at the small clock on his table. He’d purposely counted his time to arrive a bit late. It was a cheap trick, but he’d opted for it.

That might have been a mistake. It was quite possible that Ren had come before him and already left, and that upset Armitage even more. He wanted to appear nonchalant, to smooth the last impression, but he, apparently, overestimated Ren’s interest. Or maybe Ren hadn’t come at all.

Armitage was choosing between leaving or waiting for Ren a bit longer, and which of the two options showed him as more self-assured and relaxed. He was almost sure that he had to be offended and go back to sleep when a shadow pulled from the nearest dark alcove. Before Armitage could gasp he recognized Ren. The idiot was smiling. He pulled a finger to his lips crossing there, motioning for Armitage to keep silent. Ren was dressed in all black, probably to conceal himself in the shadow.  _ What a cheap theatrical trick _ , though Armitage, fighting back his own smile.

“Was that necessary?” whispered Armie, when Ren came closer to him. His throat was pleasantly warm and he was happy to be able to speak again.

Ren didn’t answer and waged his hand to Armie, urging him to follow. They turned back to the hallway, and then almost immediately made a sharp turn again to the other hallway that Armitage had never been before.

“No,” Ren said, stopping near the unguarded door. “Not necessary. But that way it was easier to move uncaught through the castle. And I got a pleasure to observe you when you didn’t know that you were being watched.”

“Idiot,” Armitage said quietly, “And a creep. What did you see?”

“That you are fine with showing up late, but aren’t thrilled of the perspective of waiting. Such typical royalty, Your Highness.”

“Did you invite me here to give me a lesson on manners?” asked Armitage, feeling that he was starting to get angrier, as it happened oddly often around Ren.

“That too,” unexpectedly agreed Ren. His voice was low and soft.

“Then you must know that making any kind of rebuke to the one with a higher title is strictly forbidden by protocols. What else, Ren? Do you plan to disturbed my sleep so I’m tired and it’s easier for you to win our bet?”

“You read my evil plans like an open book, prince.” Ren was in a surprisingly light mood today.

“I’m leaving if you don’t stop—”

“Calm down, Your Worship,” Ren interrupted him with a smirk, “I have an important reason for meeting you. Follow me. It’s a surprise.”

“Why should I trust you?”

Ren stopped with one hand on the door handle and turned to look at Armitage. There was something in his face that caught Armie’s attention, but in dim light, he couldn't put his finger on it.

“I’d never hurt you. You know that. I just want to show you something nice,” Ren frowned.

The undeserved sadness in his voice irritated Armitage. He did somehow know that Ren wouldn’t attack him. There was no reason for it. If Ren wanted to physically hurt him he could have done it a long time ago. But it didn't stop Ren from constantly making Armitage feel wrong.

“And you want me to believe someone who constantly lied to him,” Armitage hissed, ashamed of his own hesitation.

“I have never lied to you. Never. I’m not going to do that.”

“You didn’t tell the whole truth. That's the same.”

“No. You didn’t tell me the whole truth,” his voice was leveled. He didn’t scream, but that strange sadness was still there, “You didn’t tell me about prince Poe. I just came here. There was no lying and no withholding in my deeds.”

“It’s cheating. You knew that—”

“It’s not...” Ren inputted him, and then paused making a long slow inhale, “Hux, can we just stop arguing for tonight and keep going? Can you trust me on this?”

A moment ago, Armitage wanted to argue and scream that Ren didn’t play fair, but a sudden change in Ren’s moods caught him unguarded. That might have been a trap, but really, why would Ren do that? And if it was a trap what was it for?

“What do you want to show me?” said Armitage finally, crossing his arms over his chest.

“It’s a surprise. I promise you, you’d like it,” Kylo answered and smiled. “Let’s just say it’s something that you craved to see for a long time.”

A brief obscene thought crossed Armie's mind, but then he reminded himself that he already had seen Ren naked and neither of them cared about human’s strange shame for bare skin. Why did he even think about it?

Then it got him — Ren wanted to show him the armory.

“But we can’t sneak through the guards. I tried. They said it was forbidden.”

“Don’t doubt my abilities, young prince. Obviously we can,” Ren said with a smirk, “but we don’t need to. The place where we are going has no sentry and it’s much better than a petty arsenal those idiots are guarding. Just come with me.”

Ren opened the door. It either was unlocked, or he used his “abilities”. Armitage leaned to the former.

After the door was a spiral staircase, that led into the darkness above, lightened only by narrow windows and moonlight.

“It’s a short ascent,” Ren said, turning over his shoulder “Follow my steps.”

Armie stepped into the darkness. The door closed loudly behind their back, cutting off most of the light. It added to the premonition that agreeing to this Armitage was making a significant decision. He saw only the outlines of Ren in front of him. Armie tried to imagine where those stairs led them, trying to get a mental picture of the castle from the outside, but he was so unfamiliar with human architecture that he quickly gave up.

He almost collided with Ren, when Ren stopped in front of him. Armitage heard fiddling, a metal click, and then Ren opened another door and went inside. Armie lingered on the threshold, looking inside the dark space. There were some shelves, and something hung from the ceiling, but it wasn’t enough light from the windows to distinguish anything. The room smelled of stale air and dust. 

“Why are we here?” Armie asked stoutly, didn’t want to sound scared. The premonition didn’t leave Armie’s heart. The premonition that if he follows Ren inside it will mean something important, something from where he can’t go back.

“Do you want to come inside and find it out yourself?”

“I don’t know how  _ your _ octo-eyes are working, Ren, but I can’t see in the dark.”

“Just trust me. Come,” Ren outstretched his hand, and despite his better judgment Armie accepted it and stepped into the room.

“Ready?”

Armie nodded, “Yes. But if it’s some stupid joke, I—”

Armitage didn’t finish, because Ren waves his left hand—his right was lightly squeezing Armie’s—and as his hand moved the candles lit all around the room. That was impressive enough, but Armie managed to suppress his delight. But a moment after, when his eyes adjusted and his brain processed what he saw, Armie gave a soft thrilled gasp.

The room was big and round. It occupied the whole perimeter of the tower and was filled with all kinds of weaponry, transport, and stuff that Armitage didn’t know the name for. Armor for humans and horses stood near the walls, long swords, shields, and lances hung on them, knives, cannons, globes stood on the sleeves, while telescopes, bows, and crossbows hung from the ceiling.

But most of them were the things that Armitage had never seen, and had no idea what was their purpose.

“It’s a collection from all over the world,” Ren’s voice broke the silence, “The prince is not fond of it. He doesn’t bring his guests here, and, as you can see, it’s abandoned. But I find it fascinating. I guessed you would be interested too,” he said the last part quietly.

He was able to inspect Ren for the first time that night. And he looked nice. The black outfit wasn’t a disguise. It was something akin to official attire, fitting nicely to his body and embroidered with gold and red.

“Yes. Thank you,” said Hux, wandering around. “What is all this? I mean how?”

“It was Poe’s grandfather,” explained Ren, “and he was in love with all kinds of armory. He was fascinated with science, progress, and different cultures. After his death, Poe’s father—king Kes— continued collecting it, but it looks like he stopped adding anything new after the last war. They didn’t get rid of it — that’s good to know. Most of it is weapons of all sorts, but there are things for navigation and sailing,“ Ren pointed to the far shelves. 

Armie was looking around and felt a similar way as he’d felt in the kitchen but stronger.

_ If humans are that good in weaponry, how good they are in everything else _ , he wondered.

He wanted to see a similar exhibition connected to transport, to engineering, to everything else. He wanted to travel himself and see all of it with his own eyes.

“It’s … it’s wonderful,” was all he said after walking around the room “But… How did you know that I’m interested in it?”

“I guessed,” he said, looking at Armie and a small smile appeared on his face “And then I asked Rose, and she was very helpful. I felt that if we are so bad in talking then maybe I can just—”

“Thank you, Ren.”

“Kylo.”

“What?”

“Ren is a title. All of Snoke’s servants were Rens.”

“Did he name you Kylo?” Armie asked before he was able to stop his mouth.

“No. He allowed me to pick my name. And I choose Kylo. It means sky in my own language. Back then I thought it was a good choice.”

“I didn’t know that,” muttered Armie, not sure how to react to such candor.

“You shouldn’t have to know. Snoke liked to be mysterious.”

Armitage noticed the past tense in the direction of Snoke but decided not to press it now.

“As if you don’t,” he teased instead, “All mystery and secrets.”

“As if you ever asked questions.”

“As if you would answer them,” said Armie, and smiled back.

Ren raised the eyebrow challenging him. Well, if he wanted to play, Armitage could play.

“Where is Snoke?” he asked without overthinking.

The pause was long, and Armie was sure that it was a wrong question and that Ren wouldn’t answer. Ren was looking at the window, at the dark sea what was hitting the rock further down.

“He’s dead,” he said, turning to face Armie.

“Dead?”

“I killed him.”

“Good,” Armie smirked. “I’ve never liked the old crook.”

“Any other questions, Your Highness?”

He was glad Ren—Kylo— is telling him the truth. Armitage had so many questions but all he could say was “How did you find this place?”

“I was wandering around the castle and the door wasn’t closed, I asked around and people told me what I told you. No mystery.”

“Why did you show it to me?”

“I told you already I thought you would like it.”

“But why?”

“I told you about Rose,” Kylo’s expression was puzzled, “And you were always interested in how things work. I remembered you asking a question about my magic when we were building the wall...“

“No,” Armie interrupted “Why are you nice with me?”

“You don’t understand?” Now Kylo pursed his lips and crossed his arms.

“I want you to tell me. You said you would answer my questions.” Although it wasn’t exactly what Kylo told him. Hux crossed his arms too but didn’t take his eyes away from Kylo’s. He needed to know. 

“What do you want to hear, prince? I wanted to cheer you up. Because you were sad. Because of me. Because of how stupid everything is. And I don’t want you to be sad. Especially because of me. Any more questions?”

“No,” Armie’s smile broadened “Thank you.”

He walked one more circle along the shelves. He needed days, maybe weeks to properly look at everything. Kylo had said that he could come any time he liked and no one would stop him. But Armie had so little time left in this fascinating human world.

“It’d be nice to be able to normally read it,” he said after contemplating that problem, looking at Kylo slyly, “Maybe we can update our agreement. I can sacrifice one day of our contract in exchange for the ability to lead the human language.”

“Magic doesn’t work like that.” Kylo looked at the collection of beautifully adorned daggers from Naboo.

“Really? Why?“

“It’s complicated. Unlike underwater creatures, humans speak a lot of different languages. You are able to understand their speech because of the emotions and meanings that are translated by your mind. You would be able to speak any of their languages. I don’t quite understand how it works myself. But I know it’s true. The writing doesn’t store emotions, it only stores dried meaning that is encrypted. So I can't magically make you be able to read.” 

Armie doubted that. He had seen Kylo reading some signs in the village a couple of days ago, and even now he looked like he was reading the inscriptions under the items. But Armie didn’t argue. The night was nice and he didn’t want to ruin it with confrontation.

“I want to show you something else,” said Kylo interrupting Armie’s thoughts.

“One more surprise?” he asked, suppressing a yawn. He was excited but he was tired too.

“Yes. This one isn’t that great. Don’t raise your expectation.”

Kylo led him back to the staircase, gesturing for the candles to blow themselves out before leaving the room. The staircase was as dark as before, but Armie wasn’t anxious about it anymore.

“Now we are above the armory,” Kylo confirmed Armitage’s initial suspicion, “There’s one more floor above us. Here,” he opened another door and invited Armie into the room.

It was also round, but smaller, with multiple windows, and soft pillows on the floor and a small desk near one of the windows. It looked nicer and smelled better too. As if someone had cleaned it recently, maybe even today. Armitage stepped to the window, looking outside. Circling the tower was a narrow balcony, that oversaw both the inner garden and the sea. For the countless time that night, he found a stupid smile on his own face.

“This tower has a nice view, and it’s a quiet place, where no one will disturb you. You can come here if you need a place to hide.”

“Thanks.”

Armitage turned and understood that Kylo was only one step away from him. They locked their gazes. Unprompted, their last meeting in Kylo’s room popped into Armie’s mind. It was an awkward thought.

The moment was broken when Kylo brought—seemingly from nowhere— a basket in between them.

“That’s for you,” he said.

Armitage opened it avoiding meeting Kylo’s eyes, and grateful for the semi-darkness around them. Inside the basket, he saw a bottle, glasses, and a bunch of Natas — the pastry with custard that he liked so much.

“You seem to enjoy human sweets,” he heard Kylo’s voice near him. “That’s what I like myself. Also a bottle of light summer wine. It’s my favorite, but maybe you’d like it too.”

They sat on the pillows, leaning their backs on the wall, tasting pastry, and drinking wine. The wine had a sour undertone that complemented the overly sweet taste of Natas. The air smelled of the night sea. It was chill and Kylo radiated warmth and smelled nice, so Armitage felt an urge to be closer to him.

Armie couldn’t get rid of the thought that the whole experience was just the right amount of good. He should be wary of Kylo. He shouldn’t drink with the man who tricked him into signing a rigged contract. But strangely Armie didn’t care about that. At all.

“They are still so tasty,” Kylo said, after devouring the second pastry, and helping himself with the second glass of wine “I used to get in trouble for stealing them from the kitchen.”

The choosing of words was peculiar, and Armie was going to ask what that meant. He looked at Kylo and noticed that his cheek was covered in custard. He huffed a laugh.

“What?” asked Kylo, also smiling.

“You are filthy,” chuckled Armitage, touching Kylo’s face with his fingers, but only smearing in more with the cream.

“Hux,” exhaled Kylo as a plea. A plea for what Armie wasn’t sure, but he decided to trust his instincts and lightly kissed Kylo’s cheek.

The man shuddered under his lips, and Armitage felt a big hand on his waist drawing him closer. Empowered by that, Armie moved his lips to his jawline, making a path of open mouth kisses to Kylo’s ear. Armie took the earlobe between his teeth, making him moan.

The second hand fell on the back of his neck. Armie gasped. Kylo pulled him into his lap, so their bodies pressed firmly together. Two layers of fabric between them were too thin, so Hux felt the heat of Kylo’s skin.

Kylo’s lips found his neck, sucking on it. In the back of Armie’s mind, he knew that human skin was too soft for that and there might be marks but he was only excited about that.

Arching, when Kylo kissed the tender spot on his neck, Armie looked him in the eyes. He felt the squeezing in his chest. He leaned forward to kiss Kylo’s plump lips, but Armie’s lips collided with his cheek. It took him a moment to understand that Kylo had turned his head to avoid it.

It hit him like sand gust in the eyes, making him blink in disbelief. Kylo was still playing. After all their talk and wine, and surprises that were all part of his game.

Armitage pushed away from him.

“Why?” was all he was able to say.

Kylo made a mean short laugh, “You just want to break the contract, don’t you?”

“Contract that you tricked me into signing! The contract that you didn’t explain to me!”

“You didn’t explain why you were doing it! You came to me. You practically demanded to turn you into a human. You said you fell in love with the first random two-legged creature you saw. And then I find out that you want to marry Prince Poe of all humans! And who didn’t explain what to whom?”

“Why does that matter that much to you? What makes it so different if it’s Poe?”

“I can’t let it happen. I wouldn’t interfere if it was someone else. You want to be with some pathetic human you know nothing about, that was your choice. If they really cared for you the spell would work. But not Poe. I can’t let him have you.”

“Have me? Who do you think I am? Property? The prized dolphin that can be promised to anyone? And that was your plan?” Armitage was screaming. He was so tired of everyone trading him, and assuming that they owned him.

“That’s not that, Hux. I wanted to help you when you came to me. But you didn’t ask for help. You wanted to be with some human!”

“Help me? You mocked me when I came to you!”

“I didn’t do—”

“So you decided that you can trick me into being yours! That won’t work! I don’t know how your spell works but it won’t work! You can chain me, but you can’t force me to be with you.” Armitage felt his hands trembling. “I can be either your lover or your property, but not both. No number of sweets, or wine, or secret rooms, can change it.”

“You don’t understand.”

“Then explain it to me.”

Armitage stared at him, but Kylo said nothing.

“You are just like my father, but you succeeded in what even he didn’t — you made me fully dependent on your will, you made me weak, you took away my voice. My voice,” Armitage snarled and stormed away.

Armitage ran out of the room, ran down the stairs, ran down the hall, turning and turning, not knowing where he was running and why. He could meet guards, wake up servants and noblemen but he didn’t care. He didn’t care about any of them.

Hot tears were running down his cheeks. He was hot everywhere, uncomfortable in his own skin. His throat was on fire, his chest was aching. He had too many feelings all at once. It was like at the balcony where Brendol had announced his wedding. It was like two days ago when Kylo had rejected him. But much worse.

He had lived with the thought of being someone’s husband for the last five years. He’d made peace with it. It must be the same. But somehow it hurt way worse. He didn’t know why even the thought of being Kylo’s slave was endlessly more disturbing than marrying Prince Poe, Prince Rhones, or even King Pryde.

_ Because you allowed yourself to care,  _ said his inner voice.

The truth was that in that tower he forgot about the contract, he just wanted to kiss the man in front of him. And Kylo wanted to win. Still. The unexplained hate toward Poe was more important to Kylo than anything that could have been between. Or maybe he just wanted to torture Armitage. He definitely succeeded in the last one.

Armie stopped and looked around. He found himself in the middle of the library. Not wanting to go back to his room, scared of what he might see in his dreams, he wandered through the empty room.

All the books that he wouldn't be able to read. All the lands he wouldn’t be able to visit.

He lost. He even thought about giving up. There was no difference now. Kylo made his choice, and there was no reason to keep fighting. Yet Armitage decided to wait until morning.

He went to the small room in the library, not wanting to be found by servants when the castle woke up. He had stumbled upon that room a couple of days ago but hadn’t looked around. It was almost unnoticeable, and judging by the stale smell rarely used. He suspected that it was used as a study because it had nothing but a table and a few shelves. Now it was a good place to relax and gather his thoughts.

Armitage didn’t know how he’d felt asleep sitting on the table. When he opened his eyes it was already early morning and the sun had already risen. The events of the last night flood him, making him cringe.

He was ready to leave the room when he noticed the portrait on the wall. It wasn’t big. There were depicted three people or more clearly three children. There was Poe’s sister Sophie — she was a bit younger than her portrait in the grand staircase, probably fifteen years old. Near her stood baby Poe, a funny little boy in a blue suit who was around eight or ten. But Armie’s eyes were on the third person — a teen boy who looked a bit older than Sophie. His dark hair was in the ponytail. He had a slight smile, and his ears were protruding.

It was Kylo Ren. It couldn’t be a mistake. It can’t be anyone else, but Kylo Ren in a dark brown jacket. Only the math didn’t work. The teen on the portrait looked maybe a couple of years younger than Kylo was now, but the painting had been made at least ten years ago.

Armitage cursed out loud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't hesitate to leave kudos and comments. I LOVE your comments.
> 
> * * *
> 
> You can find me [tumblr](https://mysticmilks.tumblr.com), [twitter](https://twitter.com/mystic_milks) or [curiousCat](https://curiouscat.me/mystic_milks)
> 
> Many thanks to [@spiteandmalice ](https://twitter.com/spiteandmalice) for beta reading!
> 
> * * *
> 
>  **Shameless self-promo**  
>  _modern AUs:_  
>  Famous Russian AU, that my friends and I translated [To the Moon and Back](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22380280/)  
> Demon!Hux / hunter!Kylo [Dating a monster](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26703904)  
> Hux/Kylo/Techie, pwp with feelings and bottom!Kylo [You can have it all, but not all at once](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22721863/)  
> Russian train AU [The train on fire](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23477458/)  
> roommates AU, there was only one bed [Up All Night](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18018218/)  
> co-workers on a long business trip, friends to lovers [my face above the water, my feet can't touch the ground](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19928956/)
> 
>  _Canon:_  
>  post-tlj, media AU [you are burned up before you know it](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17705078)
> 
>  _Fantasy AUs:_  
>  Hux is a merman, Kylo is a Sea Warlock [The Little Merman](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24610624/)  
> Arranged marriage, Hux needs to marry a mysterious man and Kylo needs to deliver him there [drop the curtain, blow out the candles](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17462159)
> 
>  _Collection of ficlets_  
>  Ficlets for Kyluxpositivity [In all the worlds, in all the times](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25771663)


	9. Retreat

“Dear Armie, are you sure you won’t be able to join us today?” Poe asked, his voice the epitome of sympathy.

_ I regret it tremendously but I don't feel very well today, Your Highness. And even if I’m better in an hour, I won’t dare to risk your and your dear friends' health by coming with you. If it’s contagious, it’ll be unnecessary jeopardy for all of your entourage, and especially you, my dear friend Poe. _

Obviously, Armitage didn’t tell him any of that, but he tried his best to gesture and grimace that explanation for the third time during this morning.

What little had left of the night, when Hux finally had come to his chamber, he’d spent trying to find his sleep. It hadn’t gone well, he’d been tossing and turning, in vivid and senseless dreams. He couldn’t get rid of the thoughts about Ren, their time together, and the tremendous amount of lies that the octoman had told him. His depiction in the decade-old drawing had been disturbing finding, and all the implications that rose from it were heinous.

With all that going on, Armitage had quite genuinely gestured that he had felt sick when Klaudia had come to prepare him for breakfast. In that early morning haze, he had simply forgotten that he’d got his ability to speak back.

Then his first idea had been to use his voice and explain everything to everyone. He could have gone to the prince and explain that Matt was a fraud. He’d thrown that plan away like leftovers after a feast. He needed to keep pretending, or it’d be too suspicious. That made Armitage even angrier and confused with Ren’s actions. Giving Armitage his voice back must have been a new amusing way of torturing him. 

The servants had come one more time with breakfast. That had been the young shy boy whose name Armitage had kept forgetting. He’d asked if the prince and his party should wait for Armie to join the hunting trip. Armitage had declined the proposition with polite humbleness.

When he’d heard the knocking for the third time Armitage had been sure it’d been Ren. He’d been ready to yell at him, but, to his surprise, it's been the prince himself. Poe had said that his friends hadn’t wanted to go without their dear Armie and they had been fine with waiting for him or postponing a trip for tomorrow.

Armitage highly doubted that spoiled and vain noblemen who’d talked dirt behind his back cared about his attendance. But he smiled anyway and showed that he couldn’t ruin their plans.

“Get better, darling,” Poe beamed a sad smile, standing in the doorframe. Armitage hadn’t allowed him to cross the threshold, and he was covering himself to his chin with the blanket. “We will bring you fresh game. I promise you fine venison for today’s late dinner. After eating it you will feel as good as new.”

The moment the door was closed behind the prince, Armitage dashed from his bed and started dressing and packing his things. Whatever he decided to do next, it must be done quickly and he better be prepared.

Fully dressed, he waited near the window, peeking through the curtains, until the prince's party left the castle walls. Kylo Ren was with them. He was riding a black stallion in the avangard near the prince.

_ Lying squid. Horrible monster. _

Armitage turned from the window and strode out of his room. His way led to Lady Tico’s workshop. His suspicions were right — Rose wasn’t with them. She wasn’t a fan of hunting. And if Armitage still trusted anyone on the surface, it was Rose.

Finding her wasn’t complicated. Armitage took it as a small victory, gods knew, he needed one. Lady Rose was in her workshop in her usual working robe. She was disassembling a metal construction that looked like a clock but instead of two hands had multiple metal sticks that ended with metal spheres. It was beautiful and sophisticated, and it took all of Armie’s mental restrictions to not ask her about it.

Armitage watched her for a few minutes, enchanted by the complexity of the mechanism, and her trained movement. He completely forgot about the purpose of his visit.

“Oh, good morning, Armie,” she said when she turned her head up and noticed him. “How are you feeling? I worried about you when I didn’t see you during breakfast, but Poe told us that you wished to be left alone.”

Armitage nodded and smiled slightly. He decided to keep pretending that he couldn’t speak with her too. That mess was where lying got him in the first place and lying to her didn’t feel right, but what other options did he have? If he talked after a week of silence people were going to suspect all kinds of nonsense.

_ Yes _ , he gestured to her,  _ I’m much better, thank you _ .

“You look pale. Is there something wrong with you now? We didn’t plan to have a class today, did we?” she said “I’m a little bit busy here. But I can—”

Armitage, remembering the urgency of the situation, motioned her to follow him.

At first, she tried to argue, explaining that she needed to finish the model of the universe before the Great Celebration. But she saw at his face that it was serious, and went with him. Armitage’s anxiousness seemed to get to her too. They both were striding through the halls, almost running. All the way to the library they didn’t talk — Armie was in too much of a hurry to explain anything on the move with gestures, and she was smart not to ask any stupid questions.

A few minutes later, he brought her into the room with the portrait and pointed to Kylo in it. He made big gestures with his arms, asking for an explanation. He felt even more stupid than ever for not using words. Armie studied her face while she was inspecting the painting. He noticed how her incomprehension changed into surprise.

“It’s clearly Sophie and Poe, but I have no idea who is the third one,” she said after a minute or so of considering it. “The portrait was made a few years before I got in the castle and I’ve never seen that man. He must be someone important. Very important, actually, since he was depicted with royal children. I don’t have any portraits with Poe.”

Armitage wanted to scream. He raised his hands in frustration. The man looked almost exactly like “ _ Matt, the nobleman from Arkanis _ ,” he wanted to say, not understanding why she didn’t see it.

“Calm down, dear. You right, he does look familiar. I see that too,” she continued after Armie’s promptings. “Let me look closer. Hm, there is embroidery on his jacket. I think it’s a lily, the symbol of the royal house of Naboo. But I’m not sure which one, they have different ruling families, and I’ve never been good in Heraldry,” she trailed away, and then looked at Armitage ”He looks like Matt, hm?”

He violently started nodding. Finally, that wasn’t so hard, wasn’t it?

“That’s why you got so nervous, huh?” she smiled, but it was with a shadow of sadness. “Yeah, they look similar, but it doesn’t mean anything, Armie. A lot of noble people look similar. They are often related, you know.”

Armie’s face must have shown his contempt for that suggestion.

“This man must be what now? In his mid-thirties, maybe more? Poe was no more than a baby in this portrait, and we are going to celebrate his twenty-second birthday this year. And Matt looks like he’s only a few years older than this man, no more than twenty-something.”

Armie shrugged. He also had zero theories other than magic, and he wasn’t sure what it could or could not do. But it must be Kylo Ren, that’s the only option.

“Armie, there must be a simpler explanation.” She guessed his thoughts. “Matt is from Arkanis. He told us that his ship was heading to Naboo when it crashed. Maybe, this man is his cousin,” her voice was pensive.

“Hm, you know,” she said after a pause, ”Naboo is more than one day of sea trip from us in this season, and their capital is inland, so if Arkanis is on the west as he showed us, it’d be more probable that his ship was attacked and crashed near our shore. And the more I look the more strikingly similar they look. Do you think we should show it to Poe and Matt when they return from the hunting trip?”

Hux shook his head vigorously.

_ Please, do not tell him _ , he gestures to his mouth, crossing it.

He explained to Rose that he wanted to spend more time in the library, maybe read a little bit. Alone.

“That all is very strange, Armie,” she said, standing near the exit of the room. She was biting her lip, and stern determination flashed on her face.

”I— I didn’t want to say that to you, but the prince is very impressed with Matt. He told us that when his ship almost crashed he heard the voice, and it was Matt’s voice. He thinks it must be a sign. He— I shouldn’t tell you, but I think you should know, Poe is planning to elope with Matt. And with all that...”

Armitage managed a smile. He shrugged and waved his hand as if chasing off an annoying fly, and showing that it’s all not a big deal.

Really, it all didn’t matter. If Armie was right, and the boy in the portrait was Kylo Ren, it all didn’t matter from the start.

Rose looked at him with doubt and then left. Armitage wasn’t sure if she would keep that secret. He wasn’t sure if he did the right thing showing it to her. But it all didn’t matter either. Not in the long run.

Armitage left the small room, went to the rows of bookshelves, and started searching. He wasn’t sure what exactly he was looking for. He didn’t expect to find a book with Evil plans of Sea Warlock enraged on its cover. But maybe he could find some clues.

He looked into the recent history of Yaris and Naboo. There was nothing in the first book. And nothing in the second. And even in the tenth, if his ability to skim through human text made any sense. The sun was approaching the horizon and servants came to light the candles. He didn’t give up and kept struggling with reading. And finally, he found the needed tidbit in a hefty volume  _ The Genealogy of Royal Houses of Naboo _ .

He opened it at the end, read the last pages of it and a story started to come together. And with each new addition, each new sentence, it became more and more tangled, and Armitage became more and more scared.

_ Have you ever heard a tragedy about the lost heir of Naboo? _

It was a story of handsome and smart prince Ben Organa. He was the only child of Queen Leia of House Organa. The boy was talented in everything from horse riding to ball dancing. He was loved by his family and his country. There was a lot of praise for that Ben, as was expected from a book written by a court scholar. Armitage didn’t care about it.

What he did care about was an illustration of young Ben, who was definitely a lad from the portrait and who looked like Kylo Ren.

The young prince was allegedly kidnapped almost twelve years ago, said one of the chapters. Such a tragic coincidence. It was just after a few days of the princess Sophie’s death, as stated in the other paragraph. 

No one knew what had happened, but every scholar thought it was mysterious, strange, and unexplainable. Two beautiful and promising heirs of two prosperous countries vanish less than a few months before their planned wedding. There were mentions about rumors of a broken heart, but Armitage knew for sure it wasn’t the case.

Kylo Ren had no heart.

_ Surface journey note 13 _

_ Day 21 _

_ What I have found out today gives me a lot of theories, but neither of them is good. _

_ First thing first — yesterday after my meeting with Kylo Ren, I found a portrait of him. The portrait was made more than ten years ago, but Kylo looked almost identical. Today I found out that the man from the portrait was Ben Organa - the crown prince of Naboo. There was not much data, but I assume that Ben Organa was human, and then he somehow connected with Snoke and became who he was — an octoman. _

_ This all gives me more questions than answers, but one thing is clear, the death of Sophie, the disappearance of prince Organa and the war that started after it was connected. I assume that Kylo—I’ll call him Kylo—conspired with Snoke against his own family and Yavin. They must have supported the Empire. And sometimes later Kylo decided to have all the power and killed Snoke. _

_ I’m not sure if Kylo Ren is using me to get to Poe, or that was a coincidence, and messing with my life was just a fun game for him. One thing is certain, all Kylo wanted from the beginning was to finish what he and Snoke started more than a decade ago. That’s why the war here is going to start again. _

_ I have no idea how old Kylo Ren is, and how come he didn’t age after he became Kylo Ren. But it only proves that everything that I knew about him was a lie. Maybe it was a game, maybe he just wanted to show me that he has control over me. I don’t know how Snoke is involved with all that, maybe he’s alive and it was his plan from the beginning to the end. _

_ I must assume that everything that he said was a lie. _

_ I can’t come back to Arkanis. Even if Brendol was willing to help me, and he’s certainly not, I can’t contact him. I’m locked in this human body and I can’t do anything about it. _

_ The only option I have left is to run away as far from Yavin as I can. I still have a day left in our contract, maybe if I put enough distance between me and Kylo, Ben, or whatever his real name is, I might be able to get rid of him. _

_ The Kingdom of Naboo is my only chance. _

The waiting was hard. The time was crawling like a snail. And even writing didn’t help to calm Armie’s nerves.

His first instinct was to run away immediately after the decision popped into his head. But sanity overpowered him. This time Armie decided to run away in the evening, so no one, and especially not Ren, did search for him before the morning.

He smiled sadly at his thoughts. He was running away so often that it might become his new habit.

It was hard to keep pretending that he didn’t feel well when the prince came back from the hunting. Armitage didn’t join them for dinner, eating in his chambers. He knew that if Ren saw him, he’d immediately know that Armitage found his secret. Maybe the sea monster indeed could read Armie’s thoughts.

He chewed automatically, not tasting anything, making an effort to push the food down. It might be his last normal meal in days, and he couldn’t waste it even if he was nauseous from anxiety.

Who knew, if he didn’t age, maybe his magic was more powerful than everyone in Arkanis thought. Armie couldn’t leave that to a change, so he avoided meeting with Ren, and impatiently waited for the sun to come down, and for the court to go to sleep.

In the meantime, Armie repeated his action from three weeks ago when he had been leaving Brendol’s castle in Arkanis. The sad irony didn’t escape him — he had been running away back then, and now he was running again from the problem he created by his first escape.

In theory, if he found a way to turn himself back into a merman, Armie still could get married to King Pryde. The moment later Armie was laughing.

With all his concentration on Kylo Ren, Prince Poe, and human problems, Armie completely forgot about the upcoming marriage ceremony with King Pryde, and it should have been yesterday.

His laughing turned hysterical. He couldn’t believe that this was his life now. Only three weeks ago he had been the crown prince of Arkanis, who had been promised to marry the handsome mer prince. His life hadn’t been perfect but with each day after it gradually became worse. It started from the engagement with King Pryde and then he got here. He was a human without any knowledge, money, or connection, a runaway without a home. He was a joke. 

It might have been minutes or seconds, but eventually, he stopped. He threw away his destiny, his claims to Arkanis throne to be a pawn—that was a word he’d learned a week ago—in Kylo Ren’s mad game.

In an hour, the darkness covered the castle. Armitage rechecked his bag — coins, stolen jewelry, stolen food from the kitchen, spare cowl, also stolen. Such an improvement compared to the last time — tonight he wasn't sneaking away like a criminal, he actually was a criminal. He used Poe’s hospitality, stole his goods, and didn’t warn him about Kylo Ren’s evil plan.

In the hallway, Armie stopped hesitantly. He thought about going to Poe and confessing to him. 

He continued walking.

He knew Poe wouldn’t believe him. Humans created a lot of fascinating things, but they didn’t believe in mermaids and didn’t believe in magic. In the end, it’d be Armie’s word against Ren’s. And Ren's words wouldn't sound like an insane person’s nonsense.

Armie came to the stable to find it unguarded.

His plan was simple: take a horse, lie to the guards that he had a letter from Poe (Armie had written it beforehand) and hope those guards were illiterate, and wouldn’t notice Armie’s bad handwriting in human, and would believe its fancy stamps.

It started to fall apart at the first point. He had no idea how to saddle a horse, servants had been doing it for him during the few times Armie had ridden with Poe. And, damn those animals were scary. Armie wasn’t even sure from which end he should have approached it. Dangerous legs could kick, but dangerous heads could bite.

“Where do you think you are going?” he heard the voice and froze with the saddle in his hands. Without turning he recognized Ren’s low baritone.

**The end of the Book II**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't hesitate to leave kudos and comments. I LOVE your comments.
> 
> * * *
> 
> You can find me [tumblr](https://mysticmilks.tumblr.com), [twitter](https://twitter.com/mystic_milks) or [curiousCat](https://curiouscat.me/mystic_milks)
> 
> Many thanks to [@spiteandmalice ](https://twitter.com/spiteandmalice) for beta reading!
> 
> * * *
> 
> **Shameless self-promo**  
>  If you like this work you can check my other works.  
> Current WIPs:  
> translation of the famous Russian AU [To the Moon and Back](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22380280)  
> Finished:  
> Modern AU m/m/m with Ben/Hux/Techie [You can have it all, but not all at once](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22721863)  
> Russian train-AU [The train on fire](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23477458/)  
> 


	10. Our weaknesses and strengths

**Book IV: The end of the fairy tale**

The night was calm and quiet. There was no sound in the stable other than the rhythmic breathing of horses and Armie’s own wild heartbeat. He could pretend that he was the only one here if he closed his eyes, but he sensed Ren’s presence with his skin. It was like a million tiny needles prickling his skin. That must be how prey felt before fangs met their flesh.

Armitage didn’t turn to face him, stubbornly looking at the horse and not moving. Kylo Ren had come to stop him from running away, and now it was all over. Ren won. Again. And Armie lost everything.

“None of your business,” Armitage muttered, not looking at Kylo. He almost managed to keep his voice from trembling, almost. Goosebumps were crawling on his arms. “I’m my own person for the whole next day, so don’t get in my way.”

Armie’s treacherous heart ached from his proximity. He should have been scared, furious, and lost. He should have run away. He should have been devastated. But instead, after the initial shock, all he wanted to do was touch Ren one more time.

It took all Armitage’s willpower not to show that. He was annoyed with himself for his weakness. Not to stay still, he came close to the scary horse, put the saddle near it and petted it on the side. The animal made an angry noise and Armie quickly stepped away from it.

Ren huffed a laugh.

“I’m not standing in your way,” he said amiably. Armitage heard a smile in his voice, “I’m asking what your night escape is supposed to mean. I just wanted to check how you were feeling and find out that you disappeared with everything valuable. I didn’t peg you for a petty thief, prince.”

“So? Did you decide to be a hero and save Poe’s treasury from losing a few brooches?” Armitage said, reminding himself that Ren was his enemy, and feeling anything other than contempt for him was the peak of stupidity.

“I decided to talk to you,” Ren said, stepping behind his back. “Before you do anything stupid.”

Breathless from such impudence, Armitage turned around to face him. Ren was waiting a few footsteps away, leaning on the wooden pillar with his shoulder. He was in a thin white shirt, loose pants, and barefoot. It was a stark contrast with his carefully selected stylish black clothes yesterday night. Unexpectedly there was no smirk on Ren’s face — he was...worried?

Armie’s chest tightened. The urge to take a step closer was strong, but he overcame it.

“Then talk.”

“I canceled our contract,” Ren said, staring at him “Yesterday. After you left. I don’t want to own you. I never did. Not in that way. You can stay as human as long as you wish. Your voice is back too. You can do whatever you feel like, no—”

“I don’t believe you,” Armitage interrupted his fast speech.

“I’ve never—”

“Don’t you fucking dare finish it, you filthy liar!”

“Hux, I—”

“No! Every word you said to me was a lie! Every damn word. You used me to get to the prince, Ben Organa,” Armitage relished in the change in Ren’s face. Unhidden surprise flashed across it, changing into severe pain “Yes, I know about that! I know everything!”

“Everything?” his voice was barely audible.

“Yes,” lied Armitage “I saw your portrait, and then I read about you. The crown prince of Naboo. Engagement with Sophia. Your disappearance. The war. Snoke. I know everything. And now you came back to marry Poe and usurp the throne!”

“It’s not like that,” Ren mumbled to his feet. “Please. Let me explain.”

“Not like that? And how is it? No. Don’t answer — you would lie anyway. That’s all you can do.”

“I didn’t lie to you, Armitage. I—,” he turned his head up to look at Armie “It’s not easy. I didn’t tell you about Ben, because that boy died almost thirteen years ago. He was destroyed bit by bit until all that left of me was Kylo Ren, Snoke’s slave. I am Kylo Ren. It’s not a lie.”

Armie felt another pang of pain in his chest and the strong urge to reach out to him and hug the big slouched man in front of him. Armie couldn’t look at Kylo’s sad face. He needed to say or do something, or he’d do something very stupid.

“That doesn’t matter,” he blurted out “It doesn’t change anything. You lied to me! You swore to be honest with me, yet you didn’t mention that you were human. How can I believe anything you say after that?”

“I— It was so long ago that I don’t even believe it now. I was an octoman almost as long as I was a human, that being a human felt like a peculiar dream,” he made a sad small chuckle “But you right, Hux. I’m sorry. I didn’t tell you about that.”

“Yes, you didn’t! You didn’t tell me that you had been to that castle. That you were engaged. That you knew Poe when he was a baby.”

“You wouldn’t understand,” said Kylo tiredly.

“Yeah?!” Armitage raised his voice again “You could have at least tried! What has stopped you? Oh, and you forgot to mention that you were engaged to his sister. And our dear lovely friend Poe doesn’t even know about that too. You were giving me hell for not saying anything about Poe, and then you conveniently omitted that you were sweethearts with his sister before her unexpected death. Such an insignificant, little detail, that you—”

“I couldn’t tell you that, without explaining everything else...”

“That’s called lying. That's the definition of lying. And you didn’t want me to know about it. Because you wanted Prince Poe and you wanted power, and who knows what else.” With each word, Armitage came close until he was pointing his finger to Ren’s chest. “If you are so honest now, tell me this — why didn’t mention your engagement with Sophie even once?”

“Because I killed her!” Kylo screamed, and then loudly gasped for air “I killed her! I killed Sophie! She was a good kind girl, who’d be a great queen and my stupidness killed her. I helped Snoke to start one of the most devastating wars. That was my fault! How could I say it to you? How could I explain that to Poe?”

He stopped screaming and was standing there, less than an inch away from Armitage, breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling, balled fists trembling at his sides.

“Killed her?” muttered Armitage, not believing his ears. He knew that Kylo Ren was powerful and dangerous, but something was wrong there “How? Why?”

“It’s hard to explain. It was a stupid mistake, Hux. I was young, as young as you are now, and I was a complete idiot, stupid moron, spoiled— Sophie and I, we should have married and we were friends, but I never loved her. And being an idiot I thought that no one cared about my feelings and that it wasn’t fair. No one but a mysterious shadow. The shadow that was whispering to me in my dream. The shadow that was promising me solutions to all my problems. I made a deal with Snoke. He promised to stop our marriage. He promised me power, the throne, respect. He promised me a perfect match. In exchange for our heirloom, a mere pendant that belonged to my grandmother. Till today I’m not sure if that pendant even had any value for Snoke.”

He sighed. It felt like minutes passed before he started to talk again.

“I didn’t ask any questions. I was an idiot. I just thought that the engagement would be magically canceled. That’s what happens in fairy tales, right? But the next day came the messenger with the letter. She was dead. They said it was an illness, but I knew that it was Snoke. And he did it for me. I didn’t know what to do. I was scared, and... I asked Snoke for help again. He agreed to hide me from my own family, from Yavin, from my disgrace. For a small payment. And he made me into what I was. His octoman servant. His slave.”

When he finished, Armitage’s anger had evaporated. He knew that Kylo was honest with him. Something in the way Snoke had looked at Kylo, always seemed wrong to Armie.

“How old were you back then?” he asked after a small pause.

“Seventeen. Almost eighteen.”

“And how old are you now?” The question was stupid, but Armitage wasn’t able not to ask it.

“I don’t know. Most of the time I was frozen under his charms. Snoke woke me up only to do his biddings, and then put me back to sleep. I assume I was aging only when I was awake. I remember how other mers changed, while my face stayed the same. I don’t know—” he paused again “I guessed I must be around twenty, maybe closer to twenty-three. But that was very fuzzy. I only remember bits. Some days I just remember killing Snoke’s enemies, not even sure how I got there or how I got back to Snoke. I was under his spell. His will was like the inner voice to me.”

“How do you manage to kill him?”

“The last few— I don’t know it must have been years— he kept me awake for longer. Sometimes for weeks. I grasped more control over myself and my magic. I think I always had it, even when I was human, but Snoke made it stronger, or I don’t know—” Kylo shook his head. 

“He taught me. He must have thought that he’d be always able to control me. I served him for years. Once he ordered me to sink a ship. That wasn’t the first time. There were many during the war. But that one belonged to Naboo’s royal family. I was ready to do that but I sensed that my little cousin and her father, my uncle, were on board. Their presence gave me the strength to resist. I couldn’t hurt her. I couldn’t let Snoke destroy what was left of my family. I slew him instead.”

“And what has happened next?” Armitage muttered against his chest. He found his own hands resting on Kylo’s torso, moving up and down with Kylo’s breathing.

“Then— I lived for the last three years as a sea warlock doing the bidding of your father and other noblemers. I couldn’t come back to Naboo. Not after everything I had done. There was no place for me among other merpeople.”

The ending of that story shocked Armitage. He had never thought that Kylo Ren had lived alone in that creepy cave because he had nowhere else to go. He’d remembered seeing Snoke and how he was ordering Kylo around but had never assumed how horrible it had all been.

“I—” Kylo started rapidly “I didn’t mean to come here. I’ve never thought I would walk the earth ever again. I didn’t plan to usurp anything. I didn’t plan to intervene. I checked on you a week ago. And saw you with Poe. With the little annoying boy Poe, with whom I played when he was a baby, whose sister died because of me. I didn’t think. I just acted. I couldn’t bear the thought of you with him, but I also couldn’t let you hurt his family even more. I came here to find everything out all with my own eyes, and then I ruined everything again.”

“Kylo—”

“Hux, please. Let me finish. I’ve never intended to force you into anything. I’ve never intended for you to be my property. I thought—,” he paused and started messing with his hair “I liked you. You were pretty and smart and— It doesn’t matter. I thought that maybe if you spend time with me, you’d like me back. That was dishonest and low, but I thought— And then you started to do what you did. Being sexy and provocative, and coming to my chambers. And I— I wanted you so much but not like that. That doesn’t matter.”

He touched Armie’s chin with his fingers and moved it up so their gazes met.

“Listen, Hux. You don’t have to leave.”

“What do you mean?”

“I didn’t lie to you. The deal is over. I canceled it yesterday. I thought you felt it. You are free to do what you want. You can stay human forever! With your prince, if that is what you really want! If you want I can make Poe forget about me. I can make a potion for that, and you two can start over.”

“You think I wanted the prince?”

“That’s what you told me, remember? You will have your books, armory, the collection that I showed you. I messed with it, but I can make Poe forget that Matt has ever existed. What else do you want? Love potions? What else do you demand from me, Hux?”

Armitage looked at him, his lips shaking and he leaped forward, embracing Kylo with his arms, and connecting their lips in a chaste, hesitant kiss.

“I want someone who will be with me,” Armitage whispered, not moving away “Someone who would be with me, while we are searching for our place in all this messy world. That’s all I need from you. Can you give me that?”

“I'll always be by your side if you allow me,” said Kylo.

His hands were moving gingerly up and down Armie’s sides. As tender as if he was touching something very precious, but fragile, an apparition that could disappear with any wrong move. That wasn’t far from the truth, in light of their two failed attempts of being close together, and Armitage fleeing away angry and devastated two times before. Armie smiled at that thought.

Armitage had an urge to say something very, very stupid. To stop himself from making any emotional confessions, he leaned forward and pressed one more kiss. He felt Kylo exhaling and smiling before his mouth started moving, exploring Armitage’s lips, leaving small kisses and sucking on them.

Feeling bold and hot all over his skin, Armitage slipped his tongue inside Kylo’s mouth, meeting his tongue and tangling them. It made Kylo’s hands clench tighter on Armie’s sides. It was better than anything he’d experienced before. Better than food. Better than riding. Better than kissing any other person.

One big hand moved to Armie’s lower back, clenched on his hip, pressing their bodies closer together, and another slid up and dug into Armie’s hair, lightly pulling his head up. He exposed his neck for Kylo’s demanding kisses, and slipped his hands down, tugging Kylo’s shirt up.

They stopped and disconnected for a mere moment, so Armie could take the shirt off through Kylo’s head. He looked beautiful with his broad naked chest, that begged to be kissed all over.

“You have much more clothes than I do,” Kylo commented with a smirk. He stayed only in his tight pants in the half-darkness of the stable, “That is not fair.”

“Maybe it's because I didn’t roam around the castle half-naked in the first place.” Armie leered back, putting his palms on Kylo’s bare chest. Armie marveled at how hot and firm his body was. Never before he wanted anyone as much he wanted Kylo now.

“I couldn’t let myself change my mind when I decided to talk to you,” Kylo said, inhaling sharply, when Armie's fingers were making slow, teasing circles around his nipples. “Maybe we should go back to the castle, to your chamber. Or to mine.”

“No.” Armitage shook his head, placing kisses on Kylo’s pectorals, “I don’t want to wait any longer.”

He was practically rubbing himself on Kylo. His cock was hard and a melted fire was burning in his belly. He wanted that. He wanted Kylo. And he wanted him now.

“Are you sure?” he whispered, staring Armie in the eyes “You don’t have to. I will do anything you ask, without—”

Armitage stopped him with one more passionate kiss.

“I am,” Armie said when their lips parted “I want you, Kylo.”

“Then we will need to improvise.”

Kylo guided Armie’s legs around his hips and hoisted him up. His head rested on Kylo’s shoulder. The position was perfect to suck on his ear, which Armie did, remembering how Kylo enjoyed it yesterday. He was right — when he nibbled on his earlobe, Kylo made a low moan that turned into growling.

Kylo moved with Armie in his arms to the nearby room that was used as a storage for hay. It was darker but smelled much better and there were fewer chances to be spotted by guards.

He laid Armitage on top of the stack of hay. He untied the lace of Armie’s cowl, took it off, and spread it out, moving Armie on top of it.

“The last chance to change your mind and move to a proper bed,” he whispered into Armie’s ear, slipping his hand under Armie’s tunic and rubbing his belly.

Armie bit his neck instead of answering.

“Shut up and do it,” Armie hissed, “Or I’ll decide that you don’t want it.”

“As you wish, Your Highness,” Kylo growled in response.

Armitage was trembling and squirming, while Kylo undressed him excruciatingly slowly, leaving open mouth kisses all over him, from his wrists to his ankles, making him moan and urging for more. It was a bit strange in the human body but Armie enjoyed every moment, completely certain that he had never felt so good and so right before. Even how his little toes were curling made him excited.

When Armitage was finally—finally!—fully naked and Kylo moved up to kiss him again, Armitage slipped his hands between their bodies, untying Kylo’s pants. Kylo wriggled them off, smiling and leaving sloppy kisses on Armie’s face.

Armie looked between his legs and saw in the dim light how hard Kylo was. His dick was long and thick, curled up. Its head was glittering with precome. Armie licked his lips from the sight of it. The wave of combined arousal, excitement, anticipation with a dash of nervous fear washed over him.

Kylo caught his gaze and gave him a small encouraging smile. 

“First time as a human?” Kylo tried to be cheeky, but Armie heard something else in his voice too. Maybe he was a bit nervous too.

“Not that I did anything like that, when I was a merman,” Armie admitted, looking away, unexpectedly ashamed.

“Hux, we don’t have to do that. Not all of it. Human male bodies aren’t naturally ready for that,” said Kylo kneeling between Armie’s legs, and placing a kiss on his inner thigh “There are a lot of other things that we can do instead. Or don’t do anything, if you—”

“I want this. And,” Armie paused, and then reminded himself that he was the prince and that would not be acting like a scared child “I have had this body for three weeks. I did some experimenting by myself.”

“Oh? you did,” Kylo’s smile grew wider, became smugger and his kisses moved closer to Armie’s entrance “Then I wish to assist you in your experiments.”

Armitage bit his lip and nodded. He wasn’t sure what exactly was in Kylo’s mind, but something in the way he acted hinted that he had more experience than Armie, and he was content to relax and enjoy the ride.

“I’m going to make you feel good and relaxed,” said Kylo, as if reading his thoughts again.

His mouth moved up Armie’s inner thighs, and when Armie started to wonder what Kylo’s plan was, he got the answer.

Kylo licked across his entrance making him shudder. Kylo circled his tongue, lapping and invading him with the tip of his tongue. Armie’s body was on fire. His back arched, and his hips bucked up demanding more.

It was not as Armitage had imagined his first time. Not at all. He had thought it would be after his big wedding feast, romantic and ceremonial, not surprising action in some stable with a sea warlock, whom Armitage had been sure he’d hated only hours ago. But Kylo was tender and caring, and it was the most important thing. The sensations he created in his body exceeded all Armie’s wildest expectations. It was much better than touching himself alone in his lonely bed.

When his hips started shaking uncontrollably, and his moans became barely audible, he felt Kylo’s palm closing on his dick. He only pumped it a few times, until Armitage spilled on his own belly with warm, sticky seed.

“Such a messy little prince,” he heard through the haze of his pleasure. The moment later he felt Kylo licking his belly. After a few wet stripes, Kylo deemed him clean enough. He moved up, and hugged Armie, pulling him in his arms.

Armie expected to feel shame, or regret, but leaning into Kylo’s embrace, he felt only pure happiness.

“Do you want more, my prince?” Kylo whispered into his ear, “Or has that satisfied your scientific interest for tonight?”

“The man of science is never satisfied with his explorations. And besides, I can’t let my fellow prince suffer,” he said.

Kylo stiffened, seemingly frozen mid-breath. It took Armie a moment to understand that it was a wrong thing to say.  _ Right, Kylo doesn’t like his past _ , he thought.

“Kylo,” Armitage mumbled, but Kylo shut him up with another long kiss.

“Not now. I don’t want to talk about any of that now.”

“Then stop talking, and teach me how two-legs surface dwellers do it,” Armitage said seductively, but he couldn’t suppress a laugh in the end, and Kylo joined him.

“As you wish. But I need your help,” he touched Armie’s lower lips with his two fingers “Suck them for me, Armitage, make them wet.”

Armitage enthusiastically swallows his fingers, feeling how his arousal built up again in his groin. He relished into obscene wet noises that his mouth was making with each time he took Kylo’s fingers in.

Kylo pulled them out, looked at them as if checking and whispered some words that Armie didn’t understand. They glowed for an instant. It was an unexpected thing to do but Armie decided not to ask, trusting him fully.

When Kylo moved his hands between Armie’s legs, Armie understood with a surprise that they weren’t covered with saliva now, but with something viscous and slippery.

“I didn’t know you can use your magic like that,” whispered Armie.

“I improvise as I promised.”

The finger probed his hole, and then one slipped inside easily. The feeling was nice. A bit unusual, because it was someone else's finger, but Armie didn’t lie — he’s done it before. Shortly after the second one joined it.

Armitage saw how hard Kylo was himself. He heard how shallow his breathing was. His other hand was tightly squeezing Armie’s shoulder. Yet his fingers moved slowly and steadily, opening him up, and preparing him for his first time. It would have been much easier if he had been a merman now. Kylo could have taken him without any additional action. But there was some attraction in that slow process. It showed that Kylo really cared about Armie's comfort and his pleasure more than the immediate satisfaction of his own urges. The powerful Sea Warlock was being slow and careful with him, as Armitage had never expected him to be.

The thought coincided with the right movement almost shocking Armie with an unexpected wave of pleasure. 

Kylo’s fingers withdraw almost completely, stopping at the entrance and teasing the rim. His left hand moved to Armie's mouth.

“Lick it for me,” Kylo groaned.

Armie did as he was asked, covering his open palm with saliva. Then Kylo whispered the spell again and Armie watched mesmerized how Kylo was slicking his gorgeous dick.

“Ready?” Kylo asked, moving on top of him.

“Yes.”

He lined himself up and slowly filled Armitage. He stopped when he was fully inside, and continued after Armie’s short nod.

They both were breathing shallowly, their foreheads touched, and gazes were locked. It was like nothing that Armie felt before. He was open, full, completely at the mercy of another person. 

And it wasn’t any person, but Kylo Ren. Armie felt connected to him, not sure anymore where his body ended and Kylo’s began. 

He moaned and mewled, with each thrust. Near the peak, when Kylo's movements were fast and shallow, Armitage bit Kylo’s shoulder to shut his own loud noises.

Kylo came inside him, keeping thrusting and pumping Hux’s dick as his own was twitching in Hux. He reached between their bodies, pumping Armie’s dick until he came too. It was stronger than the first time, like a cannon explosion in his body, making him convulse in silent cries.

They laid together motionless, their bodies entangled and filthy with sweat, seed, and that strange slick that Kylo’s handful of magic created.

Armitage wasn’t sure for how long his mind was blank. He started drifting to sleep, fully satisfied.

“Hux,” Kylo whispered, “Let’s go back to the castle.”

“Why?” He didn’t want to even open his eyes, yet moving anywhere.

“Servants will wake up at dawn. I don’t want anyone to catch us like this.”

“Why should I care?”

“If I kill servants for staring at you, someone will notice that.”

Armies smiled at the image of Kylo wreaking havoc because some poor servant saw a bit too much of his skin. Humans were strange, and Kylo still had human prudeness regarding exposing their bodies.

“I trust you to find a way to deal with that without a homicide,” Armie mumbled, not opening his eyes. “I think the powerful Kylo Ren will find a way”

“You won, my spoiled prince. But I will wake you up in a few hours. And we will go back to the castle.”

“Deal. These are problems for the future Hux. Now, I beg you, please let me sleep.”

The last moments before falling asleep Armie felt like he’d forgotten something extremely important but the thought fled before he was able to grasp it.

His dreams were frantic. He was running from something and chasing something at the same time. He was wrong. Waking up he felt that acute wrongness but then he fell back to sleep, forgetting about it.

The next time he turned he heard a soft “Hux.”

“What?” he mumbled, with his eyes closed. The sense that he needed to do something became weaker and he felt safe and right again.

“We should leave,” it was Kylo’s low voice. “Servants will come very soon to feed the horses. And I really can’t kill all these people.”

“Can’t you?” Armitage asked, surprising his smile. Whatever he’d seen had been just a dream, and now he was with Kylo. 

“Don’t provoke me, prince. That would be overstepping Poe's hospitality. And I don’t know about you, but it’s considered rude to kill someone else’s servants.” He placed a small kiss on Armie’s nose “Wake up. I can bring you to your room, or my room if you want, but you need to dress first.”

“Nay,” Armitage opened his eyes and saw a bright light entering the barn through the cracks and a small window. “I can bring myself to my room. Or to yours.”

He tried to pull Kylo for a passionate kiss but he moved to his feet.

“First dressing and moving to the castle, then kisses and undressing.”

Kylo was standing in front of him fully dressed. Well, he was still barefoot, but in his tight pants and a white undershirt.

“As you wish.” Armie stood up, wiggling his hips. To his delight, it caught Kylo’s attention. Kylo came closer but instead of hugging him, he gave Armie his clothes.

His body ached, either from their activities or from sleeping in the stack of hay with a clingy sea warlock sprawled on top of him. It was nothing than a few more hours of sleep in a comfortable bed wouldn’t fix.

“The faster you move now, the faster we get to the bed. We still have a lot of experiments to conduct.” 

Not arguing with that iron logic, Armie pulled his attire on, and they walked back. He noticed that a few servants that were already in the courtyard didn’t pay them any attention, as if on purpose looking away. He wondered if it was Kylo’s magic, or during their years in the castle, the servants learned to not notice such things.

But the further they got from the stable, the reality of the situation was falling on Armie. During the last two days, so many important things happened that his mind only now started to catch up. He was free. He had slept with Kylo Ren. And Kylo Ren was a human prince, who accidentally killed Poe’s sister, and was held captive for years by Snoke.

What to do with all that new data Armitage didn’t know, but when he crossed the threshold of his room with Kylo on his side, he lost all the inclination to sleep. All his troubles and heavy thoughts were pushed away.

* * *

They spent the next three days together, barely leaving Armie’s chambers. He didn’t know what Kylo said to Poe and everyone else. But no one bothered them. Their time together was wonderful, and Kylo taught him all the fun things that they could do with each other's bodies. On the rare occasions when they left the room they explored the castle and Ren told him old stories about the summers he had spent there when he’d been a child.

Yet each night he saw dreams that he couldn’t remember. With each day Armitage became warier. The weather changed with his mood, becoming windier and bringing cold October rains with it.

On the third day when Kylo went away to bring them breakfast, Armitage was looking at the ocean. The waves were hypnotizing him and he knew what he needed to do.

The door opened behind him. It was Kylo. Armie heard him closing the door and sealing it with a spell, putting the tray on the table, and coming to the window.

“Do you want to go back to bed, Your Highness?” whispered into Armie’s ear. “I can feed you strawberries there, and then eat you.”

Armitage shook his head.

“Do you want me to leave?” Kylo asked emotionlessly. During the last days, he seemed to notice Armie’s sudden sadness but didn’t comment on it.

“No.” That was the one thing Armitage was sure about “Kylo, what are you planning to do next?”

“Eating breakfast and you,” he joked unsurely.

“No. I mean in the long run.”

Kylo shrugged, “I don’t know. It’s not wise to stay here. It’s risky with my past, and your recovered ability to speak. They won’t be able to hurt us,” he said reassuringly, “But I won’t want any of them to use their head and finally understand who I was. It’s a miracle any of the old servants haven’t recognized me yet. We can go inland. Find some small city, or live in the woods, or—”

Armitage nodded absentmindedly and turned back to the window that was facing the sea. He put his arms on it and looked into the waves.

“What is wrong Hux?” Kylo asked after a few minutes “I see that something bothers you. Please, tell me. We agreed not to hide things.”

“I think I need to go back.”

“Where? To the sea?”

“To Arkanis. I think I need to go back home.” 

“Why? You hated it there.”

“I thought that I could change my fate with humans and come back as a winner. Then I thought that I needed to run away from you. Now I can’t pretend that I was a silly child who was trying to hide from the inevitable.”

“What are you talking about, Armitage?”

“I’m talking about my responsibilities as the crown prince of the Arkanis. Rae was right, I need to make a sacrifice for my country.”

“If that's what you want,” Kylo hugged him from behind “Let’s go back to Arkanis.”

Kylo’s big hands on his chest made the next phrase way harder to say. Kylo’s touches were so good it hurt. It was like Kylo knew Armie’s body better than Armie himself. It was like they were meant to be together.

“I don’t know how to say that right. So I’ll just say it. I believe I should try to fix my engagement with King Pryde for the sake of Arkasian mers.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't hesitate to leave kudos and comments. I LOVE your comments.
> 
> * * *
> 
> You can find me [tumblr](https://mysticmilks.tumblr.com), [twitter](https://twitter.com/mystic_milks) or [curiousCat](https://curiouscat.me/mystic_milks)
> 
> Many thanks to [@spiteandmalice ](https://twitter.com/spiteandmalice) for beta reading!
> 
> * * *
> 
>  **Shameless self-promo**  
>  _modern AUs:_  
>  Famous Russian AU, that my friends and I translated [To the Moon and Back](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22380280/)  
> Demon!Hux / hunter!Kylo [Dating a monster](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26703904)  
> Hux/Kylo/Techie, pwp with feelings and bottom!Kylo [You can have it all, but not all at once](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22721863/)  
> Russian train AU [The train on fire](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23477458/)  
> roommates AU, there was only one bed [Up All Night](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18018218/)  
> co-workers on a long business trip, friends to lovers [my face above the water, my feet can't touch the ground](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19928956/)
> 
>  _Canon:_  
>  post-tlj, media AU [you are burned up before you know it](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17705078)
> 
>  _Fantasy AUs:_  
>  Hux is a merman, Kylo is a Sea Warlock [The Little Merman](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24610624/)  
> Arranged marriage, Hux needs to marry a mysterious man and Kylo needs to deliver him there [drop the curtain, blow out the candles](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17462159)
> 
>  _Collection of ficlets_  
>  Ficlets for Kyluxpositivity [In all the worlds, in all the times](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25771663)


	11. Our plans and improvisations

“What?” Kylo's hands froze on his sides, squeezing them.

There was no reason to repeat. Kylo must have heard him the first time — they were close together in the quiet chamber and only the sound of waves came to disturb them.

He turned to Kylo, looked at his face, put his hand on Kylo's chest. His features were stuck between surprise and a smile as if Kylo wasn't able to decide was Armie joking or not.

Armitage wasn't. He needed to come back to Arkanis. He needed to fix all the mess he caused. And now he needed to start to explain it to Kylo. The problem was simple — Armie had no idea where to start. All the guilt from the last few days, no, even the last few weeks had been piled in his head, and now, when he wanted to voice his concerns they threatened to bury Kylo and him under their weight.

"Kylo," he started and immediately stopped. Kylo's face cringed with pain. The gravity of Armie's words came to him. He understood that it wasn't a trick. 

“Kylo, my father didn’t leave me a choice.” Now, starting to tell it, Armitage clearly saw that coming back to Arkanis and living a miserable life as a merman always was his destiny. Hoping for more was ridiculous from the beginning.

“I thought that if I found human magic I’d be able to stop the war, but… I can’t use any human technologies like fire underwater. I think deep down I've always known it. I left my country pretending that I'm doing it for them, but I've just run away like a shallow merchild. And because of my father’s genius negotiation skills, Arkanis is left without strong allies. And I can’t do that to all the merpeople of Arkanis, just because I don’t want to marry some old king. I can’t stay here just because I like it. I'm a prince and I have responsibilities. I have to go back, and I have to be a bargaining piece in that futile war. I know it's stupid, but I can't live happily here while my country is suffering. I have to do everything in my power to save my country.”  _ Or die trying. _

“I don't understand. I thought you wanted to be a human. I thought you enjoyed all this. I thought you wanted—”

“I do. I want to have legs and breathe air. I want to explore this wonderful, magical world. I want to do it so much. And want to do that with you. More than anything, Kylo, but I can’t. At least not now. You must understand more than anyone,” Armitage tilted his head to see Kylo's eyes but turned his head away and stared at the floor, after seeing Kylo's expression. He looked devastated, physically hurt, as if Armie slapped him, or punched him in the gut with all his strength.

The pause continued for a long time. The room was so quiet, that Armitage wanted to scream and beg him to say something, anything, just not that torturing silence. Armie sat on the windowsill, put his legs up on it, and drew his knees to his chest, hugging them and hiding in that cocoon, like he'd used to do when he'd been a merchild. He peeped at Kylo, while Kylo glared at the sea, seemingly wanting to evaporate it with his gaze.

“Do you think your father would be dumb enough to start a war even if he was going to lose it?” he finally looked at Armie, and Armie wasn’t able to evade his eyes. He owed Kylo the truth, he owed him that little, and he had to tell it to Kylo’s face.

“Yes.”

“So what is your plan, prince? Become a husband for that old mackerel? Be a martyr for your country, so your father can start another pointless war, and maybe, via your sacrifice Brendol won’t lose it, huh? Do you want to sell your body for the mere hope of slightly better results? To gain what? So in hundreds of years, they'll create a sad song about you?” with each sentence Kylo’s voice became sadder.

“It’s not that bad," he squeezed out a smile "I’m not selling anything. I’m a prince, as you pointed out, and it’s expected from me to marry for political reasons. I've always known it. That's what this madness with Poe was about — I planned to marry him. And if I can’t do this, then I should marry the one who my royal father chose for me. It’s not like Pryde would be eager to consummate our marriage — he's too old for that, and even if he still can he won’t be able to do it often. I know, it is not ideal, I don’t say it is, but it’s the only solution that I see.”  _ Except for even crazier plans than I had before. _

“And where do you see me in that scenario, Your Highness?”

“I thought you could come with me. If you want,” Armitage made a long inhale through his nose, before moving to the most crucial part. “I thought you could be with me as my personal guard. Or something in this line... If you agree to that.”

“To do what? To wait outside the doors while he fucks you? To spend a night with you when your husband doesn’t see fit to visit your chambers?”

Armitage didn't answer. That wasn’t an ideal plan, as Armie had admitted. But they would be together, and if they played it right, maybe Pryde would be too afraid of Kylo to even touch him. Then the war would be over, and either Brendol or Pryde would die, and then, then they could leave the sea forever and finally start enjoying life on the surface.

Kylo stepped closer, his body touching Armie’s side. He put his hand on Armie's knee, and another on his nape, connected their foreheads, and said, “I’d rather kill your father than let you do it!” 

“If you do that you would condemn me to rule the country surrounded by all my father’s enemies, while our own noblemers plot against me. I won’t be able to leave. Probably never. In the best case, we will be stuck in Arkanis for years, maybe decades fighting even more wars and fearing for our lives.”

“I will kill them all for you.”

“All of them?” Armie raised his brows and smiled softly “That’s a nice plan, and I’ll be happy to follow it. But now is not the time. If we kill nobles now, we will make Arkanis weaker. Our neighbors will tear us apart while our commoners will starve.”

They didn’t say anything for a long time. There were more pauses than words. What were words when Armitage wanted to howl like a wounded animal?

“Kylo,” he whispered, pressing his cheek to Kylo’s “Will you help me?”

“I think you are making a mistake. The same mistake I made when I made a deal with Snoke. But I will do as you ask me, Armitage," he sounded painfully neutral. With such a voice he could have said that the dinner today would be late. And even then he, probably, would be more emotional. 

"I will give you a potion,” he said to Armitage, scowling as if he ate something rancid, and then going back to his neutral, still expression “I promised you that. I will follow you underwater, even though that has never been my world. But I won’t float there and let anything bad happen to you. I don't care about Arkanis — only you. I will murder your King-husband in front of the whole court if he ever tried to touch you. I will murder your father if he tried to hurt you.”

Armie looked in his eyes, and he knew Kylo wasn’t lying. That was a small solace, but in this crazy plan, he’d have someone whom he could fully trust.

* * *

The next three days after the morning of the big talk went uneventfully. Kylo was preparing the transformation potions for them, while Armitage was convincing himself that he wasn't doing yet another stupid mistake.

They didn’t explain anything when they’d appeared at the dining hall together. The people of the court gave them curious glances but no more than that. Armitage suspected that Kylo had explained something to them, but, frankly, Armie didn't care anymore. He was going to Arkanis, and even if he came back to Yavin it'd be years from now. Prince Poe was upset over dinner, moving his somber gaze from Armie to Matt but then the dances started and he was again all smiles and spending time talking with a pretty fair-haired girl, whose name Armie hadn't bothered to learn. Armitage didn’t talk with anyone, as Kylo and him had agreed. It wasn’t as hard as it'd been during the previous weeks — he spent all his silent time thinking about his plan and convincing himself that it was an actually good plan and that he wasn’t throwing his life away, again. Kylo, as silent as Armie, sat by his side, glaring at everyone who dared to approach them.

Only Lady Rose seemed to be genuinely concerned about them but she didn’t say anything, and Armitage was grateful for that. Lying to her would be hard, and he desperately needed someone other than Kylo to share his thoughts, but he couldn’t put such a big secret on her shoulders. That wasn't fair to her. And if Armitage was honest with himself, it wasn't even fair to wish for that. It was his decision, his destiny, for the first time in his life he had to take full responsibility.

In three days, two vials of the potion were ready.

In his heart, Armie wanted it to be longer, to enjoy this world more, to breathe, and feel his body, and even interact with all the mean humans including grumpy Klaudia. He would never voice the last part, but he grew to enjoy her brand of insolence. She reminded him of merpeople of his early childhood, how they treated him before he'd became Brendol's heir.

It was almost sunset when Armitage and Kylo left the castle walls, went to the stone shore and sat on the boulders that were warm from the autumn sun. They didn’t talk, only sat there and looked at the fortress, red from the last rays of the sun.

Although Kylo didn’t say anything, didn't even move, Armitage knew that at any second Kylo would attempt to convince him to abandon that plan. As he’d tried so many times before in the last few days.

There had been different approaches that Kylo had tried with him as if he'd been solving a puzzle. They had been unsuccessful, but it hadn't seemed to stop Kylo from seeking the right solution. At first, almost right after their big talk, he’d started to act aggressively, and trashed some valuable vases, but had been able to stop, when Armitage got scared. Then Kylo had brought a dozen books from the library, and read passages from them out loud to Armie. That'd been nice, but fruitless — humans stories hadn't been applicable to mad mer kings.

After a few initial attempts and few destroyed art pieces, Kylo had seemed to pour all his frustration and objections into their bed, as if all the ways he'd pleasured Armie had been a statement by themselves.

Armitage couldn’t complain about that, but it left a bitter undertone. As if with each kiss Kylo was showing him the image of happiness that they were going to lose. As if Armitage didn’t know that without a reminder.

Closing his eyes, Armitage put his feet into the water and relished in the feeling of moving his toes while chilly waves were caressing them. He would miss his toes, human food, and the culture and science. He would miss everything, even stupid dancing. He thought about that countless times, but he couldn't stop. If only he could stay. If only there was a way. He'd even be a servant. He'd even work with his hands. If only he could be a human.

There was one reasonable plan. Armitage still didn’t find the courage to say that to Kylo—didn’t want to disappoint him if the plan didn’t work out. He had presumed that maybe it'd be possible to spend a few years underwater, stabilize the situation and then if it worked, come back to the human world. He doubted it would go without troubles in reality but it was a nice fantasy, and for now, it kept him sane. 

“I’m ready,” Armie said, still looking at his feet in dark-blue water. “Let a prodigal son come back to Arkanis.”

"I need to tell you something," said Kylo.

"Can we do it when we are in Arkanis? It's getting darker—"

"Please. I need you to know it."

Armitage noded. He didn't need this. Each second here was one more second when Kylo could give his opinion.

"Snoke promised you to me."

"What?"

"It was around three years ago," Kylo said, not looking at him, "After we'd visited Coruscant ruins together. I told you he'd been putting me into some semblance of sleeping when he hadn't needed my power. That day instead of doing just that he said that he'd sensed my interest in you," Kylo made a sad huff.

"Imagine my surprise. No, my embarrassment. I haven't told anyone about that. I wasn't admitting it even to myself. You were beautiful. You were the prince. And I wanted you badly. But I also knew that the next time I opened my eyes you might be a decade older and married. I hated myself and you for those feelings. But Snoke said that it could be arranged. That he had a way to make a deal with your father. I’m not sure what kind of deal it was. Was it a marriage, or was it something worse."

Armie flinched from possible options. Knowing Brendol he could have agreed to give Armie to Snoke on a nightly basis.

“But I didn’t care,” Kylo continued “I was excited. I haven't been with anyone for years. I would finally have someone to just talk, spend time, and maybe something else,” he gave a weak smile. “And not someone the most beautiful merman I've ever seen. I agreed. The next time Snoke reminded me of you when he gave the task to destroy the ship with my family. That was my choice, kill them and get you, or lose you and try to defeat Snoke. After that, I knew I’d never had a chance with you.”

“Snoke is dead. I'm free. Now I have you, Armie. Against all odds, you are with me. We can have the whole world together. I will give you anything you want. But you make a choice to ruin it. I don’t understand it.”

Armie didn’t know what to reply. The new information was unexpected. They were meant to be together. They meet each other in different worlds. That was fate. But it wasn't enough. Not enough to save Arkanis.

“You are so smart, Armitage,” said Kylo again, like so many times during the last days “You can do better than that plan. There must be a better way. We don’t even know if your marriage will help your people. I can’t believe that the best we can come up with.”

“But there isn't any other way,” said Armitage louder than he intended. What was the point of reiterating the same thing for the dozen times? Why was Kylo torturing him like that? “There are situations where I couldn’t change anything. No one can. It’s one of these situations.”

“I don’t believe you. I do not. I think you are afraid, and you run away again. You knew you liked the human world, so you came up with a reason to be here. Your marriage, your father, that all was just a pretext to come here. If you wanted to get rid of your family, you could have simply swum to any other kingdom, or to unknown territories. But now when you can stay there forever you are scared to allow yourself to be happy, and you punish yourself for it.”

Armitage wanted to curse. Not because Kylo was right. Not because he was wrong. But because that all didn’t mean anything. Why did he accept it? 

“Kylo, there are things that can’t be changed. It doesn't matter how I feel toward them. Do you think I don't want it? If I stay here with you and start a life in some cozy cottage in the woods, I’ll ask myself for the rest of my days, what has happened to Arkanis. I will torture myself with it. And eventually, I’ll start to torture you, questioning and regretting my decisions. That will destroy us. You must understand that! Didn’t you regret your mistakes?” 

“Don’t change the subject. It’s not about me, or our relationship, but about you and your attempt to torture yourself, Armitage. Not in a hypothetical future, but right now.”

Armie felt mad. He was doing it for Arkanis, and it was the best option, anything else wasn’t important.

“I think it is about you. You made a mistake with Sophie. Then you made another mistake by submitting to Snoke. Then you regretted those mistakes and destroyed your master. And now you are the one who is afraid to come back to your home to your family who was searching for you for years.”

“Do not talk about what you don’t understand.”

“No, Kylo,” Armitage hissed angrily “You compare your resentment to solving your problems with my situation. I made mistakes and I’m willing to face the consequences. Consequences might be dire for me, but I do not wish to drive myself mad, running for my whole life in the trembling fear of facing them!”

With each word Armitage was raising his voice, pouring all his annoyance into his little speech. He didn’t want to hear Kylo's arguments. He didn’t want to consider other options. In one moment of clear dread, Armie even thought that he said it all on purpose, so he could avoid going back. He expected Kylo to scream, maybe to attack him or maybe to leave him alone without the potion.

Kylo didn’t do any of that. Instead, he drew a long slow breath, and, with horror, Armitage saw a hundred rocks rising from the water.

In the moonlight, Armie looked at them. Each stone was bigger than a man, covered with seaweed, corals, and crustaceans. It was dark already, but even if someone saw them, it wasn’t a problem anymore. Kylo was trembling with rage. The rock hung there, and when Kylo finally exhaled with a roar, the stones exploded into countless small pieces, and fell back into the sea, splashing as hail.

Kylo was standing still and breathing audibly. Armie reached his hand and intertwined their fingers. Kylo didn’t respond at first, but then he shook from his trance-like state and sat next to Armie, pulling his fingers through his hair and hiding his face in his palms.

“What is the purpose of my powers if I can protect people I care about?” he said, looking into muddy water.

Armitage was impressed and terrified. He whispered, “Does it happen often with you?”

“Every time I’m upset as long as I can remember,” said Kylo. “Not like this. Not all the time. ”

“Even when you were a human? Was it happening before Snoke?”

“I’m not sure. Snoke contacted me through visions when he was no more than a child, but yes, I think it happened before him too,” he turned to face Armie. “Prince, you are right, I’m afraid to meet my family. But that’s not the point. Or maybe it is. All I know is that you are making a mistake, and I’ll do anything to save you. Let’s go to my family. Let’s ask them for help. We can leave and be in Naboo in three days if that would stop you from your mad plan.”

“You would do that for me?”

Kylo nodded and gently kissed him. He was still trembling. Or maybe it was Armie. It was so nice to just close his eyes and enjoy Kylo’s touching. It was a wonder that this dangerous man was capable of being that tender. But something was still between Armitage and peace, some thought that was tinkering in the back of his mind.

“It’s three days to Naboo, isn’t it?” he asked.

“Yes,” said Kylo, mild confusion on his face.

“Or two days by sea.”

“Yes, but then you need to travel from the port. You really want to go there?”

“I just thought… you said you made a deal with Snoke to get you out of that arrangement with Sophie, and then—”

“Then she was dead. Snoke killed her for me. I told you, I didn’t mean that. I didn’t know what he was going to do. And I know now that Snoke planned it that way. But I made a deal with him. So it’s my fault-“

“That’s not it. You said the message came the next day, right? You said you made a deal with Snoke at night, and, the next morning, that message came. So Sophie was dead for at least two days, and probably it was three days because it was winter and it was less dangerous to travel by land than by sea.”

“Snoke had his methods to travel…”

“But he couldn’t make the messages come quicker, but he could make him slower,” Armitage thought out loud. “I read books. I didn’t understand everything, but the war should have started, and then was that disease, Sophie died, you disappeared, and joined forces almost lost to the Empire. Partially because both royal families were distracted by grief, and partially because sea battles went so badly because Snoke used his and your powers to destroy ships. Right?”

“I’m not sure...But that’s how I understand it.”

“So it—”

“What are you saying, Armitage?”

“With Snoke being dead we would never know the truth for sure,” Armitage said, suddenly convinced, “but I assume that he knew that Sophie was dead, and manipulated you to ask him for help when he had this knowledge. He knew that if you wouldn’t ask him then, the next day the news of her death would come anyway. It wasn’t your fault. He lied to you from the beginning.”

“It doesn’t change anything,” said Kylo but his voice was doubtful.

“It doesn’t,” Armie shrugged “I just thought about it.”

“Just thought about it,” Kylo laughed bitterly, “I was crucifying myself for it over the years. And you just look at it and find a solution. And yet you are saying that there’s no other way to stop your father then to ship you to an old creep.”

“That’s not the same.”

Kylo took Armitage's hand and moved it to his lips, leaving small kisses on his knuckles. Then he placed Armie's hand on his lap, covered it with his own, put something small and cold into it, and closed Armie’s palm.

Armitage opened it and saw a vial.

“Armie,” he said “I’ll put the world at your feet. I'll do what you ask. I will do that, I will swim with you to Pryde, I will guard your chambers in his castle. I promised you that and I will keep my word.” He hugged Armie that hard, that for a moment he thought that Kylo was going to crush his bones.

“Please don’t do it. I don’t know what to say to stop you. If I thought even for a moment that it’s really what you want, or that you can’t do better I would do that, but I don’t believe that is true,” Kylo said "I know you feel it too. You say life in a small cottage would destroy us and our love, but the sea, Brendol, and Pryde will do that much faster. Going to your father and to Pryde would destroy you, destroy us, and then nothing will stop me from destroying all of them." 

“You won’t be able to destroy all of our enemies. Even you are not that powerful.”

“I’ll die trying. That’s how I see it will end. So forgive me, your worship, for trying to talk you out of it, since I can’t just drug your cute little ass away from the sea. There is another way. I know there is. We need to find it.”

“I have some thoughts,” muttered Armitage almost silently.

Very reluctantly he decided to share something with Kylo. Something very dangerous. He had thought about that plan for some time. It was more daring than anything else. But it had too many variables, and even if something small went wrong they would be stuck in much worse situations then now. That was madness. But if it worked it'd solve everything.

Over the next hour, in the dark, he described everything to Kylo, in all the excruciating details.

“And you told me you didn't have any other options?” Kylo hugged him, smiling “Little liar, I’d be angry with you if you weren't so cute and smart and perfect.”

“It’s risky.”

“And?”

“And if we lose…”

“It would destroy Arkanis. All the mers would think you were like Brendol,” finished Kylo, his smile dying. 

“No one will ever believe I did it because I tried to save them not for my personal power.”

“Then let’s hope we won’t lose,” said Kylo. “Ready?”

"No," admitted Armitage "But I want to finish it."

They took their clothes off, hid them in between the stones, just in case, and jumped into the water. Kylo held him while Armie drank the potion and transformed and then Kylo did the same.

* * *

“You disappear for weeks, without saying goodbye, the whole kingdom doesn’t know your whereabouts, and then you materialize on my property with the Sea Warlock and suggest a revolution,” Phasma asked after listening to Armitage’s plan.

They’d used Kylo’s magic to travel unnoticed underwater, and come to Orcamer’s family mansion. After quick explanations and a less quick dinner, they gathered in her reading room to discuss business. Armie’s whole grand plan was based on her involvement. If she said no now, they would need to come back to the original idea with the marriage to Pryde.

“It’s not a revolution. It’s a peaceful change of ruling leader,” Armie said, smirking and swallowing one more of his favorite fish wraps. He wouldn’t admit that but he missed those wraps, almost as much as he missed Phasma.

“Semantics,” she clicked her claws on the decorated table, taking her writing stick away and blowing on the letter in front of her “You want to make your father leave, and he won’t leave without a fight, and you want my family to get involved into your inner family feud. I love you, Armitage Hux, but it’s too risky.”

“The war is also risky. If my father will start the war, and he will, it will devastate the business,” Armie declared his prepared argument “And you know the peculiar fact about the war, it’s much easier to stop than to finish. And who knows how long will this war last.” he said, masking his anxiety with a smile.

Kylo was floating behind his back, motionless and speechless. He’s taken his octoform. He could have become a regular mer with a tail, he’d explained to Armitage, but he’s used to his tentacles and mers would fear him more if he looked like that. Hux wanted to hold Kylo’s hand, or at least look at him, but he needed to convince Phasma by himself. “The risk is high but the reward is high too. Isn’t it fair?”

“And she agreed to that, huh?” Phasma raised her eyebrow and smirked, “Oh, let me guess, you didn’t ask her yet. I would say you didn’t ask anyone yet. And you want me to sign that blank contract, without any guarantees, and accept all the liabilities. It doesn’t look fair to me. I thought you were smarter than that, darling.”

“I asked you first because you are the key player, and because your part takes the most action and the most time. I asked you first because I know that you are smart and you are a merchant, and you would see the possibilities for business.”

“It’s not business, Armie, it’s gambling. But let’s imagine, for the moment, that I agree, and imagine that I convince my mother to back your madness. What are your guarantees? Even if anyone else supports you. How can you guarantee that everything else would go as you plan? So many things can go wrong, so many people who can say no.”

“You know I can’t guarantee you that.”

“What if something goes wrong in the very end? Hm? It’d leave us with a very angry King Brendol. And who knows how many angry noblemers would be on his side.”

She was testing him, it was obvious. If she wanted to say no she would have long ago. She wouldn’t even have let them in. She was fishing for Armitage’s strongest argument. And all he had was  _ it must work, or we all were screwed. _

“I will kill them all,” said Kylo, opening his mouth for the first time, after they entered the mansion. He sounded dangerous and powerful. The urge to lean into him grew stronger, “When it comes to it, I will destroy  _ everyone _ who is not on our side.”

“So your reasoning, Armitage, is that if anything goes wrong your  _ lover _ will murder them. And if I disagree the same fate will come to me. Do I understand it right?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's almost over ;)
> 
> don't hesitate to leave kudos and comments. I LOVE your comments.
> 
> * * *
> 
> You can find me [tumblr](https://mysticmilks.tumblr.com), [twitter](https://twitter.com/mystic_milks) or [curiousCat](https://curiouscat.me/mystic_milks)
> 
> Many thanks to [@spiteandmalice ](https://twitter.com/spiteandmalice) for beta reading!
> 
> * * *
> 
>  **Shameless self-promo**  
>  _modern AUs:_  
>  Famous Russian AU, that my friends and I translated [To the Moon and Back](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22380280/)  
> Demon!Hux / hunter!Kylo [Dating a monster](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26703904)  
> Hux/Kylo/Techie, pwp with feelings and bottom!Kylo [You can have it all, but not all at once](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22721863/)  
> Russian train AU [The train on fire](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23477458/)  
> roommates AU, there was only one bed [Up All Night](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18018218/)  
> co-workers on a long business trip, friends to lovers [my face above the water, my feet can't touch the ground](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19928956/)
> 
>  _Canon:_  
>  post-tlj, media AU [you are burned up before you know it](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17705078)
> 
>  _Fantasy AUs:_  
>  Hux is a merman, Kylo is a Sea Warlock [The Little Merman](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24610624/)  
> Arranged marriage, Hux needs to marry a mysterious man and Kylo needs to deliver him there [drop the curtain, blow out the candles](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17462159)
> 
>  _Collection of ficlets_  
>  Ficlets for Kyluxpositivity [In all the worlds, in all the times](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25771663)


	12. Our past and future

Armitage looked at Phasma, while she was staring behind his back, at Kylo Ren. The water was charged between them. Short hair stood on his nape. Kylo’s threat and Phasma’s no-nonsense callout of his action was hanging between them like a hungry shark. If anyone of them did something stupid the whole plan would be ruined. And if Kylo attacked her, she'd never agreed to help them.

Armitage felt his blood pulsing in his temples. It was like a drum solo.

A moment later her face changed and she looked at him, with a deceivingly sweet smile. Behind his back, Armie sensed that Kylo was also looking at him, waiting for instructions.

Armitage’s first instinct was to explain that no, he wasn’t blackmailing her, that he’d never do that to her, and no harm would happen to her while he was around. He wanted to say that if she disagreed, they would simply have to stop everything, without her support it was madness to continue, but Armitage nodded shortly instead.

“You understood it right, Phasma,” he said “We need your support, and we are sure that with it we all will get what we want. If you don’t help us, we’ll go with it anyway, and then you’d be part of it anyway. But not on our side.”

“My dear friend threatens me in my own house, who would have thought it came to this?” she smiled coldly.

“It’s not a threat. It’s simple facts. I won’t let my father ruin our country. He’s not suited to be our leader. You have three options: you can help us, and share spoils after our victory, you can decide to betray us, and become our enemy, or Kylo Ren can wipe your memory, so in two weeks it's a surprise for you as for everyone else. I think it’s a valid proposal.”

“You can make me forget?” she asked, cocking her head to Kylo.

“Yes,” he replied emotionlessly. “But neither I, nor His Highness Prince Hux will fail to remember what you chose.”

“Impressive. Truly impressive. Two reckless souls against the whole might of Arkanis. One smart merboy prince, and one gloomy but powerful warlock. Well, maybe it’ll be enough after all,” she drew out her vowels “I have one condition.”

“What do you want?”

“I want to know all, and I mean it, all the dirty details about you two,” her smile became wider, and she laughed. This one seemed genuine, like they laughed during their summers together, talking about all the trifling but important things.

“What?” Armitage gasped for water, and didn’t know what else to say, “You’d agree.”

“I’ve started writing a letter to my mother when you finished the short version of your plan. I wouldn't listen to it if I didn't think it was possible. It’s a good plan, darling. So of course, I agree.”

“I told him so,” smiled Kylo. Armitage didn’t see but he could hear it in his voice.

“And now let me finish the rest of the letter, and I’ll command you to bring stronger spores, and more appetizers, while you will tell me everything about your relationship with this hot octoman.”

Two hours later the door closed behind them. Phasma gave them one of the guest chambers and it was more magnificent than any chamber in his father's castle. Kylo stopped near his side and was looking around. Right, he had never been anywhere other than Arkasian Great Hall and various ruins. This must be the first wealthy bedroom that he had seen undersea.

But, looking around, Armie wasn't that impressed. He hadn’t been in the underwater world for only three weeks, but everything looked a bit foreign now. The forms were too curvy. Everything was too blue. Too natural.

“That wasn’t that bad,” said Kylo, laughing. His voice was high. Kylo could handle his alcohol but spores must be alien for him.

Armie's head was lightly spinning with the world around them, and all the colors were just a tad too bright. Spores were not like wine — while wine changed your body, making you lighter and more clumsy, spores seemingly changed everything else. Armie enjoyed drinks more but today he enjoyed the feeling of weightlessness, absolute happiness and victory.

They'd talked with Phasma for hours. She'd asked questions, and Armitage had answered them as he'd promised her. He told almost the whole story about their bet, prince Poe and Kylo coming to win his heart. Maybe, Armitage exaggerated some parts, while making others more romantic. She’d called them idiots anyway. And when they'd entirely refused to explain to her how human sex works she'd made an appalled face but Armie saw sparkles of curiosity in her eyes.

“It was a nice night,” Armie leaned into Kylo's chest, hugging his torso.

"It's not over yet," Kylo caught his lip between his teeth, teasing it lightly. Armitage was melting in his hands — each time like the first time.

He closed his eyes, cherishing the feelings. They might have a chance to win now. They might have a chance to stay together. For real. 

Kylo stirred him onto the bed, pushing Armie on it and crawling on top.

“So...” whispered Kylo in his ear, leaving small kisses on the lobe. "You haven’t before? Never?"

“You know I didn’t. You?”

“The only merperson that was around me was Snoke. So thankfully no,” he chuckled.

Armitage put his hands on his chest. They were high and happy and free and wanted each other badly. Once again, being with each other felt like it was meant to be, not like something that they were proving to each other or punishing each other with.

“So… What is our plan now?” Armie asked while Kylo was placing kisses on his chest, slowly moving down.

“What do you mean?” Kylo stopped petting his belly, looking adorably surprised “Overthrow your father, make a peace treaty with—”

“No. I meant right now, with our night. What is—? Do you know how it works with an octobody?”

“I have a good theory,” he laughed again, rubbing his face on Armie's abdominal muscles. 

“Do you need assistance to check them?”

Instead of an answer, his tentacles brushed Armie’s nipples. He moaned and arched his back, craving for more.

Kylo floated up and kissed his mouth, while his tentacles were all over his body, caressing his sides, the edge of his tail, slowly sliding in his cloaca. 

Armitage lowered his gaze and saw Kylo’s protruding dick at the bottom of his torso. It was bigger than his human one, gnarled and dark-violet. Armitage licked his lips, not able to take his eyes off it. It was equally seductive and terrifying, and he wanted it inside now.

"Like it?" he heard a low voice.

"I like all of you. You are gorgeous, Kylo." 

Kylo embraced him and they floated up, a few strokes above the sponge bed. 

Kylo used his tentacles as suspension, wrapping them around Armie's arms and spreading them, while he slowly entered him. It was different from what they had before. It was less intense, but more filling as if Kylo occupied every vacant space inside them, claiming him from within and making him his in every possible way.

Armitage whined and squirmed.

They couldn’t be as fast and rough as they had been the last few days in the castle, yet the new sensation engulfed him completely.

Kylo’s hands slid to his hips trying to move them closer, getting inside him deeper. His mouth closed on Armie’s shoulder, biting it, his fangs gracing on it, but didn’t penetrate his thicker than human skin.

Armie moaned loudly, too obscene, not caring about it, not thinking about anything other than Kylo.

_ Kylo. Kylo. Kylo. _

At that moment he wasn't sure if he was screaming it, whispering it, or if all was all it in his head. Being with Kylo was the only thing that mattered.

When he moaned again, one of the tentacles caressed his lips with its tip. Without thinking he opened his mouth and licked it. The tentacle pushed inside. They’d done such things in their human form, with their cocks. But now the tentacle was thinner and much longer. It entered Armie’s throat.

He was so full. So owned. So Kylo’s. Everywhere. All at the same time.

His orgasm covered him without a warning. He spasmed in Kylo’s arms. He screamed — that was for sure. Fireworks exploded under his closed eyelids. He pushed closer to Kylo, while he continued pounding inside him, filling Armie's belly with his semen.

They floated on the bed. Armie put his head on Kylo’s broad chest, drawing asymmetrical patterns with his claw on it. He was happy. Bliss. Not even one worrying thought in his head.

For the first time since he can remember, for the first time ever, Armitage was happy. Not because of mind-blowingly good sex. Not because of spores. But because for the first time ever he had hope for the future. If it worked out he’d be actually, for the first time ever, be free.

He wasn’t sure about anything. But he knew that he’d never be anyone but Kylo’s.

Falling asleep, on the back edge of his consciousness, with shock Armie understood that he was helplessly in love with that monster, snoring by his side.

* * *

After the agreement with Phasma, Armitage and Kylo continued their travel across the country, visiting the mers that were the most powerful and the least loyal to Brendol.

All the preparation took them more than he’d initially expected, almost a month. Without Kylo’s abilities, it’d be hard to travel across the kingdom unnoticed, and even with his magic, it wasn’t a piece of cake—Hux’s favorite expression from the human world.

They came to castles and wealthy houses stating their conditions, demonstrating Kylo’s abilities, threatening, and bribing. They appeared in private chambers uninvited as shadows, scaring the owners and setting the tone of the negotiations.

But even with Phasma’s wealth, Armitage’s status, and Kylo’s magic, it was a hard task and often Armie wanted to give up, and even more often to destroy pompous idiots who dared to question their intentions.

Armitage missed his legs and his life on the surface. He thought that maybe it’d pass in a few days but it didn’t. Kylo had been right, he wouldn't be able to stay here without regretting it. He wanted to feel the wind on his skin. To look at the uncovered sky. To have a soft and vulnerable body. He wanted back to the world where he could be himself.

Three the most important Armitage put as the third meeting, to face her after the others. It was a risky move, and he had a perfectly logical explanation for it. He said to himself and to Kylo that they needed to build the network first, but the truth was simply he was afraid of the failure, and he was afraid to face her.

The third to last they came to King Pryde. Opposite to Armie’s fears, his father’s old friend betrayed him easily after the proposal of the better trading deal and marriage with one wealthy young mermaid. Fortunately for Armitage, it hadn’t been so hard to find a willing candidate for that marriage. The perspective of being the Queen Consort, even to an old king, works wonders.

The penultimate meeting was with Rhones, the new King of Tyrrhenia, and it was rather entertaining. While Armitage had been away, Rhone's father had died, and the young King had married one of Pryde’s daughters. That didn’t stop Rhones from making provocative comments and giving obscene glances to Armie. Armitage didn’t care about them, as long as Rhones agreed to the deal, but Kylo was furious. He almost frustrated the negotiations by his threats to scale the king, if he didn’t stop staring at Armitage. And, later in their bed-chambers where Armie admitted that Rhones had kissed him before, it took all Armie seductive charms to stop Kylo from immediate vengeance. That particular sex was so good, that Armie even noted to himself to make that silly octopus jealous more often.

The next morning, Armitage knew that he couldn’t postpone the inevitable anymore. They headed to his childhood home, to Arkanis, to face Lady Sloane.

All Armitage’s master plan was based on her. The plan in its core was pretty simple: gather enough political influence, by creating guilds of merchants and giving them law-making powers akin the one he saw in Yavin, making his father abdicate his throne to him, and putting Rae Sloane and her new wife as the head of the state, while Armitage enjoyed the life on the surface with the love of his life. There was only one small, tiniest, issue: no one but him, Phasma and Kylo knew that she hadn’t agreed to this great plan yet.

They arrived in the Arkanis capital city at dawn on the fifth day after their talk with Rhones. Covered by magic they visited all Armie’s favorite spots in the city. The day was lovely, but in his guts, Armie was counting minutes to the sunset and their meeting with his mentor.

In the twilight, they swam to the castle wall. Kylo made a few already familiar gestures and they entered the inner territory. Coming back to the only place Armitage ever called home was terrifying. The closer they got the more childish and weak he felt. Everything was familiar, and everything reminded him of years of fear and humiliation he endured from his father.

“It’s going to be fine,” said Kylo, squeezing his hand.

“You don’t know that.”

“I have a good feeling about it.”

Armitage wanted to scowl. Feelings and hope that were only things that they had now.

With dread, he swam to Rae’s chambers, where Kylo had sensed her presence. He knew that no one, and especially his father, was going to see them, but it didn’t stop him from looking around his shoulder every time he saw a movement in his peripheral vision. He stopped near the door, drew a full gill of water, pushed back the irrational notion to hide in his bedchambers or in his secret laboratory, and nodded to Kylo.

“I’m ready.” Armitage almost believed himself.

Kylo made another gesture and Armie touched the magic symbol on the door, identifying himself.

It felt like an eternity before the door opened, although it couldn’t be more than a minute before the hole appeared in the solid wall.

He floated into her room like he’d done only a few times ago in his life. His father hadn’t approved their close relationship, and she’d never been the one who’d invited a child into her personal life. But those were the happy memories when he’d visited Rae here. She gave him food, solace, tired smiles, and rare embraces. And today he came to lay his destiny at her tail.

She floated at her bed, without her usual uniform, only in casual beads, hair braided loosely. She didn’t say anything, only looked at him. Her gaze was full of surprise and barely hidden condemnation.

“Lady Sloane,” he started, overpowering the trembling in his voice.

She was silent. Her chin was slightly up and she paid zero attention to Kylo Ren — she looked only at Armitage’s face.

“Your Highness, I’m glad to see you are alive.”

The sadness and relief hit him harder than any physical abuse he sustained from his father. He fell down to her. Behind his back, Kylo rushed to him, but Armie stopped him with his hand.

“Lady Rae, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have left like that. I shouldn’t make you worry. I was stupid. I was selfish. Please forgive me,” he said it, like a tongue twister, on one exhale.

“Armitage,” she said, her voice also trembling “Your Highness, your shouldn’t—”

She sat down near him, put her hands on his shoulder, and drew him closer.

“I’m so happy you are alive,” he heard “You were stupid and selfish,” she huffed, “but you are alive.”

They sat on the floor and mumbled more nonsense, until she demanded the explanations, finally gazing at Kylo.

Armitage told her everything, from the moment he’s seen Poe’s ship to his decision to come to Arkanis. He only omitted all his fighting and misunderstandings with Kylo, simply saying that they were together now as mates. Then he explained his plan to her.

“It should be your throne. I promised that to your mother.”

“I don’t need the throne. I won't stay here. I’ll go to the humans.”

“You want to go back to their world,” she stated.

“Yes.”

“Why?” she said with disgust.

“I belong to that world.”

She put her hand on his cheek and gazed at him.

“I don’t understand, Armitage. You were born a mer. This is your world, your Kingdom. You should be the one to rule it. I promised your mother to protect you, how can I allow you to ruin your life like that.”

“It’s not like that...” he started not sure what to say. He’s never been happy in this castle, he never felt like he belonged, but it wasn’t really important. “I’m human. I’m part of their world. I know that. Probably, I always knew. It’s not about Arkanis, or the crown, or even Kylo. I just need it. I know I won’t be truly me here, and now I can admit it.”

“I don’t understand it,” she repeated, caressing his cheek as if this kind of tenderness was foreign to her “But I believe you, darling. I only hope that you thought it through.”

“I did.”

She nodded, and her face became serious again “Regarding your plan. We shouldn’t do it. If you choose the human world just leave us. Your highness, the coup is pure madness.”

“Is it? Brendol is a horrible ruler and de facto you are the one who rules the country anyway.”

They told Rae whom they’d already talked to. They declared that they will go with or without her support.

“And then what? Your pet shark will crush everyone?”

“Then I'll be forced to stay to deal with the mess. But I will. I’ll make a marriage union with Phasma myself and I'll suffer here but I won't let Brendol play with that country as with toy soldiers. I’ll stop him with or without your help, Lady Rae.”

Her smile at that moment was one of the best things Armitage saw in that damned castle during all his life.

“Your mother would be so proud of you right now, Armitage.”

“Are you nervous?” Kylo’s hand touched his side, yanking Armie away from his thoughts.

“Yes. Is that obvious?” he tried to joke but came out weak.

They were going to face his father in mere minutes. The plan worked fine, almost without a hitch — the army was on their side, the merchants were on their side, both Pryde and Rhones promised Armitage their support. Yet he was scared. Brendol was a monster from his childhood nightmares. He was his father and his King. All Armie’s life he was taught to respect and obey him, or he’d regret it.

Armitage wasn’t that scared merbaby anymore. He had Lady Rae and the forces of Arkanis behind him. He had supporters and a powerful warlock beside him. Yet, if he had knees right now, they would have been.

“You look great,” Kylo said “You can do that. Whatever happens, I’ll be by your side, as I promised you on our first night together. I would never allow anything bad to happen to you.”

The weak and mean part of him wanted to say that it didn’t matter, that Brendol would never go without a fight.

“I know, love,” Armitage said instead.

With a loud thud and cloud of black mist, they appeared in the center of his father's chambers. Kylo proposed to do it that way. It was a part of the show, he’d said, and added that it’d set their dominant position.

The room was exactly as Armitage remembered it — opulent and distasteful with a grand bed, rugs of sea-weed, huge mirrors, pearls, and jewels everywhere. Brendol was opening his eyes and looking flabbergasted. Two scared merpeople that Armitage had never seen before were waking up near him.

“What does this mean, boy?” Brendol roared.

“Good evening, father. I’m also happy to see you alive and well,” he mumbled a prepared phrase, swallowing parts of words.

“What are you doing here?”

Armitage wanted to run away. All the bad things that his father did to him over the years appeared in front of his eyes in full-color. He had been beaten. He had been humiliated. He had been threatened. Brendol had taken his mother. Brendol had taken his childhood. Brendol had almost taken his freedom. He had taken his mother. He had taken his mother. He had taken his mother!

“I came to stop you,” Armie chopped with hatred, then took a deep inhale, looked that awful mer in the eyes, and said more calmly “I won’t let you rule Arkanis, not anymore.”

“You are out of your mind boy! Do you think you and that freak can take over my country? Guards seize them!”

The door opened, but instead, the king's personal guards entered Rae Sloane with ten armed mers.

“Arrest him!” said Brendol with a cruel smirk, “Throw the prince in the dungeons, and kill that monster.”

Rae swam forward and stopped on Armie’s left, looked at him, “I’m at your service, My Prince.”

“Traitor! All of you! You will regret it!” he reached for his trident.

Everything happened too quickly. Rae’s warriors dashed to him. Armie instinctively covered himself with his arms and Kylo with his body. Kylo raised his arm. Brendol raised the trident and it charged in their direction with pure red light. And the charge didn’t move any further.

The red beam of deadly power was holding in the center of the room. The sheer horror appeared on Brendol’s face.

“You won’t do that. You will never again threaten Armitage if you want to draw one more breath,” growled Kylo, moved his hand, and sent the beam into the wall, shaking the castle. The moment later the trident flew from Brendol’s hand and rested in Kylo’s “Here, My Prince.”

The warm handle laid in his hand. Armitage closed his fingers on it and allowed himself to smile at his father.

“You will listen to my proposal. You will listen carefully. I will give you a chance to choose, father.”

With each word, Armitage became more and more confident. Well, the trident in his hand, Kylo and Rae helped him. He didn’t tell his father what he’d done in the human world, or how he’d got everyone on his side. He simply stated that he had supporters, they had deals with their neighbors and that Brendol wouldn’t be a king anymore.

“You are going to write the letter of abdication now and tomorrow you are going to publicly give me the crown. Don’t be upset, father, I won’t sit on your precious throne. All the power will go to Lady Rae and her new wife Phasma Orcamer.”

“And then you are going to kill me, whitebait.”

“No. I’m not as cruel as you are.”  _ And I don’t want to be like you  _ “If you agree you would leave the castle, you would be stationed in our summer house, you'd be guarded there, but you’d have everything you need. You can take your whores, servants but don’t overthink it. You will never rule Arkanis again. If you try to arrange anything, you would die from some very unfortunate accident like you were always afraid you would.”

“No one will follow you, boy. You are nothing. You are weak. It’s not your power — what you are without your fucker?”

Kylo growled at his side, and Lady Sloane raised her sword, but Armitage reached his hand up, and they stopped. 

“I am Armitage Hux of Arkanis,” he said “your son, whom you were willing to ship away because even then you were afraid of me. I’m the one they all railed around. And now you will go there and abdicate your crown, giving it to me. Or I’ll drag your ass on that ugly balcony and make you do that..”

“You?” Brendol laughed hysterically “Not you. You can’t do that. Your fucker—”

“Kylo, dear, strangle him,” Armitage ordered. Kylo raised his hand and Brendol tried to take an invisible hand from his throat.

“You see father,” Armitage continued, enjoying the moment. “The fact that Kylo is standing by my side doesn’t make me weaker, it makes me strong. The fact that I have a merperson who loves and helps makes me stronger. I have what you were never able to have — loyalty. Kylo, dear, let him breathe.”

Brendol was coughing and staring at them with hatred.

“You are breathing because I asked Kylo not to murder you, don’t you ever forget that. I give you your pathetic life and I can take it. That is power. Guards, surround him. I give you ten minutes father. Write the letter yourself, or I’ll make you do it. And take his partners, I don’t want him to hurt anyone now. We all know how impulsive our king is.”

Leaving the room, Armitage almost wanted his father to disobey, but in ten minutes, when they came back the letter waited for them on the table. And in the midday, he gave a speech to the city and the crown to Armitage to the noise of the happy—Phasma organized it—crowd. Brendol was looking daggers at Armie, but that didn’t matter anymore. He had no way to hurt them, and they were going to honor their promise and simply send Brendol far away.

After the coronation, Armitage wanted to depart from the kingdom almost immediately, but Rae and Phasma convinced them to stay.

First, to attend their wedding. Armie had no idea how they were able to organize it only in two weeks, but it was one of the greatest celebrations he’d ever seen. He knew that it was arranged marriage and it had only happened for political reasons but it was beautiful and his two favorite merwomen had warm although not romantic feelings. The prior agreement was to have as many lovers as they would like and not interfere with each other's life outside ruling the country, but Kylo said he saw the spark between them. Gross, but who was Armitage to judge — if they found the happiness he would support them.

And after the celebration was the official ceremony of granting Protector powers to Lady Sloane. One more week underwater. One more week far from his real self.

And then it was less than three weeks till the Grant meeting. The meeting between two Kings — Pryde and Rhones, Lady Rae, Lady Phasma, her mother, and a dozen other important merchandise. There they should officially ratify the alliance and free borders.

Only eighteen more days. Both Phasma and Rae asked him to stay. Both hoped he would then stay for winter with them. Both hoped he would forget about his obsession with the human world. He felt it with his skin.

That was the reason he said no and asked Kylo to go back to the surface world without further delay.

“Will you miss the sea?” he asked Kylo when Kylo covered him in a cowl. They were sitting on the beach, shaking after the transformation, and looking at the water’s surface in the moonlight.

“No. I would stay there with you, but I’ve never belonged there.”

“Me neither. I will miss them, but not the sea.”

“We can visit anytime you want. You need to check on them from time to time anyway.”

“I took away Brendol, now it’s their country, if they mess up, it’d be their problem,” He smirked, “We will but we still have so many things to do in this world.”

With that, he covered Kylo’s lips with his mouth.

##  Epilogue

Many years passed after those events. Facts became fairy tales, rumors merged into stories, bards wrote their ballads.

Different people told different tales.

Some claim that they saw with their own eyes as Kylo Ren cried on the chest of Queen Leia the First, as the old King patted his back, while his partner Armitage dressed in green and gold were eating his favorite cakes and drinking tea, seemingly undisturbed by the heartfelt reunion.

Some say that they were in the crowd when Prince Ben and his red-haired husband were presented for the first time in the country. Some even went that far as saying that future Queen Rey the First was the one who blessed their union and that Prince Poe of Yavin attended the wedding too. Others righteously point out that Queen Rey, back then was only a green maiden, and that wedding was small and no foreign ruler was invited. While the most skeptic ones said that it wasn’t Ben but an imposter and it was all a political show.

Some say that Count Hux himself created his enchanted machine. The cannon that could destroy any ship and any defensive wall from one blow. They say it was dark magic, they said Prince Ben sold his soul to the devil that’s why he was that young. They say that Count Hux was called Mad Count and that he and Prince Ben ran into exile when the royal family and the nation were scared by its destructive power.

Some say that Kylo and Armitage returned back to the Arkanis, where they killed old King Brendol and waged the war against the five ocean nations, and that on the full moon night when the sea is stormy you can see them making love to each other among the waves. 

Some folk say that neither is right and Hux ran away with Kylo and they were seen as either mighty pirates or fearsome bandits, robbing and destroying merchants.

And some say that every version has some truth in it, and as Queen Rey put in her diaries ‘My cousin has many things and has many names. He wasn’t good. He wasn’t bad. He was just a man.” 

But everyone agrees on one thing: Armitage Hux and Kylo Ren lived together happily ever after.

**The End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks, everyone for reading, commenting, for your interest and your support!  
> don't hesitate to leave kudos and comments. I LOVE your comments.
> 
> * * *
> 
> You can find me [tumblr](https://mysticmilks.tumblr.com), [twitter](https://twitter.com/mystic_milks) or [curiousCat](https://curiouscat.me/mystic_milks)
> 
> Many thanks to [@spiteandmalice ](https://twitter.com/spiteandmalice) for beta reading!
> 
> * * *
> 
>  **Shameless self-promo**  
>  _modern AUs:_  
>  Famous Russian AU, that my friends and I translated [To the Moon and Back](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22380280/)  
> Demon!Hux / hunter!Kylo [Dating a monster](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26703904)  
> Hux/Kylo/Techie, pwp with feelings and bottom!Kylo [You can have it all, but not all at once](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22721863/)  
> Russian train AU [The train on fire](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23477458/)  
> roommates AU, there was only one bed [Up All Night](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18018218/)  
> co-workers on a long business trip, friends to lovers [my face above the water, my feet can't touch the ground](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19928956/)
> 
>  _Canon:_  
>  post-tlj, media AU [you are burned up before you know it](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17705078)
> 
>  _Fantasy AUs:_  
>  Hux is a merman, Kylo is a Sea Warlock [The Little Merman](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24610624/)  
> Arranged marriage, Hux needs to marry a mysterious man and Kylo needs to deliver him there [drop the curtain, blow out the candles](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17462159)
> 
>  _Collection of ficlets_  
>  Ficlets for Kyluxpositivity [In all the worlds, in all the times](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25771663)


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